tayahigh.blogg.se

In January 2019, Lightlife unrolled the first version of its new plant-based burger, a next generation product that builds on the legacy Lightlife built with foods like smoky tempeh strips. The rest of Maple Leaf’s corporate portfolio is littered with meat companies, however, and not all of these meet Lightlife’s “ clean break” standard. Originally founded in Massachusetts in 1979, Lightlife was purchased by the Canadian corporation Maple Leaf Foods three years ago, newly organized under a wholly owned subsidiary of Maple Leaf called Greenleaf Foods. The company recently expanded its list of retailers to include Trader Joe’s and will add several other national supermarket chains by the end of the year. Executives at plant-based companies like Eclipse and Eat JUST have also made it clear that they prefer fewer ingredients on their labels.Īt the same time, critics of GMOs and future foods haven’t slowed Impossible’s meteoric rise. The rest of the plant-based industry is aware of this preference too. No matter how many articles debunk health concerns about GMOs or scrutinize terms like “processed food” or “lab-made,” Curtin is correct to recognize that some consumers prefer foods made with fewer ingredients and names that they recognize. This is what I want.’”Īnd consumers do like options. “I’m here to give options,” he says, “choices to consumers that are saying ‘I don’t want that. “Lab-made” or “real” food-what does it actually mean?ĭespite the tone of the letter, Curtin insists he’s not here to judge the choices of brands like Beyond and Impossible. After eight weeks, participants who replaced animal protein with plant-based beef “saw lower levels of LDL cholesterol and moderate weight loss.” Beyond was not involved in the study’s design. The company funded a small study of 36 participants by Stanford researchers that was published earlier this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Where Impossible has no problem celebrating the latest food technology, Beyond has long worked to position itself as the more natural alternative-avoiding GMOs and genetically engineered ingredients, for example.īeyond has also taken a special interest in the healthfulness of its ingredients. But that’s not really an accurate representation of these two distinct companies. While these ingredients may or may not be considered “clean” by Lightlife, they serve a purpose, whether it be thickening or binding or whatever, and are all considered safe by the FDA.īeyond and Impossible: they aren’t the sameĭespite the differences between Beyond and Impossible, Lightlife’s letter treats them as one and the same. Impossible’s ingredients include yeast extract, cultured dextrose (a preservative), modified food starch (a binder) and mixed tocopherols (antioxidants). Yet even though it’s made with GMOs and multi-syllabic ingredients, Impossible’s burgers aren’t actually all that weird or inexplicable. Lightlife’s criticisms are mostly aimed at the Impossible patty-the plant-based burger made with GMOs and “fake blood.” Impossible meat consists of soy and potato proteins, but it also gets a flavor boost from genetically engineered leghemoglobin or “heme,” the ingredient that replicates beef’s iron-rich meaty taste. They’re pronounceable and recognizable things like cocoa butter and pomegranate extract. Other than maybe potassium chloride (a salt alternative), Beyond’s ingredients aren’t exactly obscure.

Europa Press via Getty Images Some ingredient overlap between Lightlife and Beyondīoth Lightlife and Beyond burgers are made with pea protein, water, coconut oil, canola oil, vinegar, salt and beet derivative (okay, extract versus powder), and both use a form of cellulose as a binder to hold all of the ingredients together.Ĭurtin points out that Lightlife’s burger has a lower saturated fat count than Impossible’s (it’s more on par with Beyond’s), as well as fewer “fillers,” though he did not name specific examples of filler ingredients. A cooker prepares the burger 'Beyond Meat' which is non-GMO and made with many ingredients that are.