In an effort to compete on taste, meat-free alternatives are being made with excessive amounts of salt, according to new Australian research.
Two and a half million Australians are gobbling up meat-free alternatives such as falafels, vegan pies, meat-free bacon and sausages, but health officials have sounded alarms regarding the salt-laden products, according to Business Insider Australia.
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Of nearly 200 meat-free products available in Australia, some had as much as half the recommended salt intake in a single-serving, putting Australians at greater risk of heart attacks, kidney disease and stroke, officials said.
In the U.S., Burger King’s new Impossible Whopper bills itself as 100% whopper, 0% beef. The “burger” is actually an Impossible patty made mostly of soy protein, potato protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil and heme, derived from genetically engineered (GE) yeast.
Highly processed, the Impossible Burger is nothing more than fake food, and certainly not the solution to a sustainable food system.
For your best health and to save the planet, skip the fake meat alternatives and opt for real food that’s being raised the right way — namely grass fed biodynamic meats.
While grass fed meat is considered a niche market today, prior to the 1950s, all cattle were grass fed. Grass farming rejuvenates the soil, produces high-quality food and is a remedy for the many environmental problems caused by factory farms.
Burger King has said it’s not marketing the Impossible Burger to appease vegans and vegetarians, but for those who wish to cut down on their consumption of meat. And the burger chain is certainly not the only one hopping on the fake gravy train. Fake meat items are on the menus at White Castle, McDonald’s, Hard Rock Café, Kentucky Fried Chicken, The Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, TGI Fridays, Qdoba, Del Taco and more.
Impossible Foods aims to produce vegan alternatives for all traditional animal foods, and the company is already developing vegan dairy and other types of meat, including poultry, pork and fish.
Meat substitutes are not new, and neither are the fake meat controversies. Quorn, a fungus-based ferment that hit the U.S. market in 2002, was originally developed by Imperial Chemical Industries, one of the largest chemical companies in the U.K. The fungus used to make Quorn is Fusarium venenatum —Latin for "venomous."
Since its inception, a number of studies have raised concerns about Quorn's safety, especially in people with food or mold allergies. The Center for Science in the Public Interest continues to maintain an adverse report collection site for Quorn-related illnesses, which include nausea, cramps or diarrhea, vomiting, anaphylactic reactions and death.
A primary ingredient in the Impossible Burger is genetically engineered soy leghemoglobin, which releases a heme-like protein when broken down. This protein is what gives the plant-based patty its meat-like look, taste and texture and makes the patty "bleed" when cooked.
The genetically engineered soy protein contains high levels of the herbicide glyphosate — as the consumer advocacy group Moms Across America (MAA) found out when they tested the Impossible Burger.
Rather than acknowledging that glyphosate in their food could be a problem, Impossible Foods engaged in a smear campaign against MAA, calling it an “anti-science, fundamentalist group that cynically peddles a toxic brew of medical misinformation.”