Meat alternatives

Vegetarians have been getting their protein fix from soy-based sausages and vegetarian mince for years. But these products have now gone mainstream as manufacturers cotton on to consumers’ rising concerns about what they’re eating and how it affects the planet.

At your supermarket you’ll find chicken-free “chicken” strips and chunks, beef-free “beef” chunks, and bacon-style rashers that claim to look, cook and taste like the real thing.

These products aren’t marketed just to vegetarians. Beyond Meat says its faux chicken and beef products “allow you and your family to eat more, not less, of the traditional dishes you love, while feeling great about the health, sustainability, and animal welfare benefits of plant protein”. Sunfed Chicken Free Chicken claims to be “good for you, good for the planet, good for the animals”.

What's in them?

Nine of the 14 products used soy or a soy and wheat mix as the protein source. Sunfed Chicken Free Chicken Wild Meaty Chunks Original and Beyond Meat Beyond Beef Crumbles Beefy are made with pea protein.

The protein content of the products ranges from 13g to 36g per 100g compared with about 25g for chicken and 30g for beef. Sunfed’s Wild Meaty Chunks Original has the highest protein content (36.1g/100g) of the products in our survey – gram for gram, more than a beef rump steak.

University of Otago associate professor in human nutrition Sheila Skeaff says you also need to consider the quality of the protein you’re eating.

“Animal proteins are higher quality because they contain all the essential amino acids, which your body can’t make and must be sourced from food. Soy protein is one of the exceptions – it’s a higher-quality protein compared with other plants, such as pea or wheat, which may be low or lacking in one or more amino acids,” she says.

She adds that for most active adult Kiwis, getting enough essential amino acids isn’t an issue as we eat a varied diet that contains plenty of protein.

The amount of protein in non-meat foods

Source: The Concise New Zealand Food Composition Tables, 12th edition 2016

Compared with chicken or beef, plant-based meats are lower in saturated fat. The “chicken” products have 1.6g or less saturated fat per 100g. Chicken thighs have 3.3g and drumsticks 2.2g. It’s a similar scenario with the “beef” products. Beef has a saturated fat content of about 2.7g – most of the “beef” products in our survey have less than one gram.

They’ll also contribute to your fibre intake. Fry’s Meat Free Chicken Style Strips and The Alternative Co’s Chicken Free Strips and Beef Free Chunks contain more than 5g of fibre per 100g. Beef and chicken don’t contain any fibre.

Some products we bought had lengthy ingredients lists. For example, Beyond Meat’s chicken strips contain water, soy and pea protein isolate, rice flour, canola and sunflower oils, maltodextrin, natural flavour, salt, titanium dioxide … the list goes on. Maltodextrin is used to thicken the product and bind the ingredients, while colourings and flavourings make the products look and taste more appealing.

Salt was a common ingredient. All but one of the products in our survey had more sodium than beef or chicken. A rump steak has about 55mg per 100g compared with Viana Organic Cowgirl Steak’s 900mg – that’s 40% of the recommended upper daily limit. Four other products – The Alternative Meat Co’s products, Ta Ching Vegan Lemon Chicken and Whole Perfect Food’s chicken cubes – also have high sodium levels (more than 600mg/100g).

As well as being high in sodium, the Ta Ching product has more than 24g of sugar, due to the sauce it comes with. The Alternative Meat Co’s products come in a marinade but they have much lower sugar levels. The Gardein products have an optional sauce sachet – using the sachet bumps up the products’ salt and sugar content.

Some meat alternatives promote their iron and zinc content. The iron in these products is different from that found in meat. “Meat, chicken and fish contain haem iron, which is better absorbed by the body,” says Dr Skeaff. “Plant foods contain non-haem iron, which is not absorbed as well, so you need to eat larger quantities.”

Plants also contain phytates, which can inhibit the absorption of iron and zinc.

Plant-based products are pricier than meat, although that may change as the market grows. According to Statistics NZ food price data, 100g of porterhouse or sirloin steak sets you back $2.80 per 100g and chicken breasts $1.47. The cheapest “chicken” product costs $2.50 per 100g. Most of the “beef” products are more expensive than the real deal.

Plant vs. animal

Good for the planet

Numerous studies have shown plant-based diets are better for the planet compared with diets high in animal products. The Plates, pyramids, planets report, published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and Food Climate Research Network in 2016, stated there was increasingly robust evidence that dietary patterns with low environmental impacts could be consistent with good health – in other words, diets that emphasise plant-based foods and eating meat in moderation (if at all).

A study published in 2017 in the Journal of Cleaner Production analysed 369 published life-cycle assessment studies (a measure of the environmental impact of a product) for 168 foods. It concluded grains, fruits and vegetables had the lowest greenhouse gas impact and meat from ruminants (beef and sheep) had the highest impact.

A 2016 Oxford University study found that moving towards more plant-based diets could reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 29 to 70% by 2050.

Plant-based diets also have the potential to reduce pressure on water resources. The Water Footprint Network (a global collaboration promoting sustainable water use) cites research showing the water footprint per gram of protein for beef is about six times larger than for pulses such as soybeans and peas. For chicken, it’s about 1.5 times larger.

New Zealand’s meat industry has acknowledged the threat of alternative proteins to its bottom line. In February, it published a report about alternative proteins and how it could respond.

Nick Beeby, Beef & Lamb NZ general manager market development, sees a future for both meat products and alternative proteins. But he said New Zealand’s grass-fed beef and sheep population won’t be growing in size. “Our focus is to market our products as being farmed as naturally as possible, rather than the industrialised farming systems we see overseas,” Mr Beeby says.

Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand executive director Michael Brooks thinks there’s room for both chicken and a protein substitute. “The poultry industry has a lower carbon footprint and water usage than other meat products,” Mr Brooks says.

Dr Skeaff says plants will always have a smaller carbon footprint than animal products. “Even when you consider the transport of soybeans by ship to New Zealand, the carbon footprint is still lower than eating meat that’s from New Zealand.”

Taste test

We put six chicken alternatives to the taste test. Each product was tasted by three meat-loving men and two women. Each person was blindfolded and assessed the product for taste, smell and texture. After sampling the meat-free chooks, our tasters then took off their blindfolds and commented on the product’s appearance. The panel didn’t know what product they were tasting and we also included regular chicken (this was the unanimous favourite).

Results

Overall, the panel weren’t clucky about any of the alternatives. But Whole Perfect Food’s Stir-fried Vegetarian Chicken Cubes and Sunfed Chicken Free Chicken Wild Meaty Chunks Original got the thumbs up over the others.

The Whole Perfect cubes tasted a bit like fried chicken. They were moister than some other products and fried up nicely. Sunfed was the meatiest-looking product, although it was crumbly when cooked, and chewy. The panel thought it tasted like chicken with crispy coating or chickpeas.

Our tasters thought the other four products (The Alternative Meat Co. Chicken Free Strips Lemon & Thyme, Beyond Meat Beyond Chicken Strips Grilled, Gardein Teriyaki Chick’n Strips and MorningStar Farms Chik’n Strips) were rubbery and chewy and gave the impression of “fake food”. These products also looked the least like chicken.

Verdict

Would our tasters buy these products again? Only one (who thinks dinner isn’t dinner without meat) would rather have these products than no meat at all. Another would consider them if she had vegetarians coming for dinner.