The fashion for «conscious» consumption drives the majority of buyers to the idea of replacing animal products with technological progress. The grocery basket choice varies based on the personal capabilities of the body or environmental conditions, as well as compassion for the animals.

As a result, not only will plant-based products continue to displace other positions from stores, but there will also be tremendous innovations in the generation and laboratory cultivation of cellular meats, seafood and dairy products.

This article touches on meat products. According to the Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the demand for meat in 2050 will double, and the ability to produce enough food will simply be impossible.

GROUND BEEF

Impossible Burger. It is known that taste and texture always matter, and, thanks to the original and proprietary use of heme-plant composition, this minced meat is prepared as easily as real beef. The current recipe is gluten-free (the original was wheat protein but was discontinued in 2019), is high in protein and iron, and has added zinc and B vitamins, which are beneficial if you’re vegan.

IMPOSSIBLE BURGER was the first to come up with such a universal recipe for pseudo meat for meat lovers. Globins (a class of proteins) are found not only in animal meat, but also in plants — soybean roots contain a variety called leghemoglobin with a structure similar to myoglobin.

Replacing animal heme with vegetable heme in the low content of this molecule in soybeans is the biggest challenge: a crop from a 4000 m² field contains only a kilogram of leghemoglobin. Impossible Burger’s technologists use genes encoding the soybean leghemoglobin protein as a basis and put them into the yeast of the Pichia pastoris species. Next, they plant the genetically modified yeast with sugar and minerals so that it grows and produces heme from less soy.

The company claims that this method of producing heme uses only 1/20 of the land required for raising livestock, and the amount of greenhouse gases produced is reduced to 1/8, which puts Impossible in first place for Earth tolerance.

CHICKEN

The most consumed meat in the United States and the hardest to imitate. Getting the right muscle texture on an artificial base is incredibly difficult. Wheat and soy are almost always present, making it difficult to find vegan chicken without gluten and soy.

Quorn uses a fungus-based mycoprotein that makes up almost half of the serving. Crunchy and tasty breading, and the cutlet has a similar chicken flavor from all products in this category. The product contains egg whites, so it is vegetarian but not vegan (but Quorn has vegan cutlets). Bonus: this brand was one of the few to choose plastic-free packaging.

SAUSAGES

Beyond Sausages is unrivaled. Since they are gluten and soy free, the products have a much nicer sausage-like texture. When grilled or in a pan, the vegan casing is slightly crunchy, just like real sausages. The taste is quite impressive — spicy and no different from the real meat products.

Ingredients: water, pea protein, refined coconut oil, sunflower oil, natural flavor, contains 2% or less of: rice protein, bean protein, potato starch, salt, vegetable juice (for color), apple fiber, methylcellulose, citrus extract (for quality protection), calcium alginate casing.

BACON

BENEVOLENT BACON – REFRIGERATED.

Plant-based bacon flavored with hickory, sage and garlic. Non-GMO Proven Project. Unfortunately, it tastes vaguely bacon-like, but this is the best alternative.

Ingredients: water, wheat gluten, canola oil, natural flavor, adzuki beans, buckwheat, natural hickory smoke flavor, cane sugar, smoked paprika, annatto, maple syrup, tomato, garlic powder, onion powder, spices, tomato paste, soy sauce (water, soybeans, wheat, salt, alcohol), nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, coconut butter, sea salt and caramel color

FISH

Sophie’s Kitchen Shrimp was a pleasant vegan surprise. Breaded shrimps were our favorites. Their texture was unusually similar to the real shrimps, and the seaweed powder gave them a sea-like taste without being coarse and overly fishy. They are also gluten-free and the rice breading makes them very crispy.

EGGS

JUST EGG is the best option for those with an egg allergy or vegan diet. According to world experts, vegetable eggs are the least common category among all vegetable products, but at the same time it is developing more dynamically than others. At the moment, the growth is significantly higher than vegetable milk and cheeses. The product entered the market recently, and its sales grew by 192% over the past year. This is the merit of the American company Eat Just and its development JUST Egg.

Manufacturers use different components of plant origin. Most often, legumes are the basis, since their properties are exactly like the eggs’. The company also uses seaweed flour — protein from algae, which is beaten as well as egg.

 

Our longread leads to an unambiguous conclusion — soon we will all be able to abandon natural meat products or animal origin and switch to vegan products, which are almost the same in taste or in useful properties.