02/05/2024

Plant-based Meat Could Soon Contain Animal Fat

As the plant-based meat market cools, some start-ups are adding animal fat

Plant-based meats — think the Impossible Burger or Quorn "chicken" nuggets — are generally filled with a long list of strange-sounding ingredients: pea protein, potato starch, coconut oil, mycoproteins and more. Those ingredients have turned off some consumers and sparked concerns about the highly processed nature of the average veggie burger or faux slice of bacon.

But now, a few start-ups are planning on adding one more component to the mix: animal fat. Some companies are growing fat in laboratories, hoping to combine it with wheat protein and spices to make an extra porky form of plant-based bacon. Others are pulling animal byproducts from traditional meat production and blending it with plant ingredients to create pieces of shredded steak.

The change could alter the identity of plant-based meats, which have been largely seen as an option for vegans and vegetarians. But proponents see that as a feature: a tasty way to propel plant-based meats away from the small proportion of consumers who don’t eat meat and into the mainstream.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.