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Thoughts on Beyond Burger and other fake meat
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »
Oh my. I don't want any of those ingredients. Well..water and salt for those pedantics.
It's okay to not want something. You don't have to eat the burger, It's such a niche item anyway. I just hope this fixation on ingredients in general (not the ingredients in this specific burger) is not causing anxiety around food. I personally want every single one of these ingredients because each one serves a purpose, otherwise it wouldn't be there. From nutritional profile to taste to color to texture to storage safely. I'll take it.
If it makes you feel any better, most people seem to only really care about these type of ingredients when they are in a meat replacement.
To be fair, a lot of the concern is because animal foods are nutritious, staple foods. When you replace them with ultra processed/novel foods there's good reason for caution. When you see how much money is being spent to create this market it's even more concerning.
You accidentally hit on it, but not for the reason that you think. The reason why meat replacements have such a strong negative following against them is because the farmer and meat producer industries are extremely influential in America. A lot of jobs and economic activity in certain states revolve around these industries. And they are terrified of meat replacements because they know that while they are not quite there yet in terms of being ready for wide spread adoption (price point and lack of nutritional improvement being some limiters so far), they also know it's only a matter of time. How far are we from a beyond/impossible type meat replacement that tastes and cooks like meat but has a fraction of the fat and is cheaper than meat? I'd imagine it's single digit years until that happens.
So that's why they are waging both a PR and regulation war against meat replacements. It's why you see in all these "small government, conservative states", the ones that think clean water regulation is the devil, they are passing new laws to ban the term "veggie burger".
It's not because they are scared that plant based meat replacements are bad, it's because they are scared that they are good.
I'm pretty sure "big cattle" isn't sending people to these forums to hate on veggie burgers.
Also, the ingredients in meat replacements are grown by farmers, largely in "small government, conservative states."
I don't know whether that's touching naivete about motives or a lack of understanding about how the Internet can and is used. Or are you just questioning whether they send people or bots?
In most MFP discussions (as this one), most people are either regular posters with somewhat defined views that are consistent across a number of threads -- including most people in this discussion -- and a few newbies who say pretty typical newbie things and don't seem to be advertising anything. Where people are advertising, it's usually not subtle (I often report them).
Occasionally posters have accused regulars of being paid by BigAg or BigSugar (usually for saying occasional treats are fine in the context of a healthful diet), and that's generally absurd, and I haven't seen anyone in this discussion or MFP generally who seems like a paid operative. I do see a lot of people committed to diets and diet advice that I think is poor (the current carnivore fad is one that rather horrifies me), but I don't think they are paid operatives of BigBeef (or for that matter of Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan or whoever pushes that diet). Nor do I think vegan posters (even the ones who say goofy things, unlike the MFP regulars who are also vegans) are paid by PETA or whatnot.
One million years ago when the internet was younger and so was I (i.e., around 1999, when some posters legal on MFP had not yet been born), I used to post at Salon and made the mistake of coming out as Bradley-curious, only to be immediately accused of being a Bush operative or Republican operative (which sounded kind of grand and flattering, despite how it was meant, and plus I would have loved some extra cash, but was absolutely hilarious if you actually had read my posts, most of which were not even about politics -- it was an impressive commitment to a character if true). No real point here, except that it's something I always think about when accusations of being an operative or the like come up (and I do miss those days, sigh).3 -
just_Tomek wrote: »I see we are still at it nice and strong. Well at least its still somewhat on the topic.
Carry on.
^This. Carry on folks, carry on. Hey, does anyone remember the Oreo's thread? Maybe we can bring that back just for some fun.
1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »
Oh my. I don't want any of those ingredients. Well..water and salt for those pedantics.
It's okay to not want something. You don't have to eat the burger, It's such a niche item anyway. I just hope this fixation on ingredients in general (not the ingredients in this specific burger) is not causing anxiety around food. I personally want every single one of these ingredients because each one serves a purpose, otherwise it wouldn't be there. From nutritional profile to taste to color to texture to storage safely. I'll take it.
If it makes you feel any better, most people seem to only really care about these type of ingredients when they are in a meat replacement.
To be fair, a lot of the concern is because animal foods are nutritious, staple foods. When you replace them with ultra processed/novel foods there's good reason for caution. When you see how much money is being spent to create this market it's even more concerning.
You accidentally hit on it, but not for the reason that you think. The reason why meat replacements have such a strong negative following against them is because the farmer and meat producer industries are extremely influential in America. A lot of jobs and economic activity in certain states revolve around these industries. And they are terrified of meat replacements because they know that while they are not quite there yet in terms of being ready for wide spread adoption (price point and lack of nutritional improvement being some limiters so far), they also know it's only a matter of time. How far are we from a beyond/impossible type meat replacement that tastes and cooks like meat but has a fraction of the fat and is cheaper than meat? I'd imagine it's single digit years until that happens.
So that's why they are waging both a PR and regulation war against meat replacements. It's why you see in all these "small government, conservative states", the ones that think clean water regulation is the devil, they are passing new laws to ban the term "veggie burger".
It's not because they are scared that plant based meat replacements are bad, it's because they are scared that they are good.
I'm pretty sure "big cattle" isn't sending people to these forums to hate on veggie burgers.
Also, the ingredients in meat replacements are grown by farmers, largely in "small government, conservative states."
I don't know whether that's touching naivete about motives or a lack of understanding about how the Internet can and is used. Or are you just questioning whether they send people or bots?
In most MFP discussions (as this one), most people are either regular posters with somewhat defined views that are consistent across a number of threads -- including most people in this discussion -- and a few newbies who say pretty typical newbie things and don't seem to be advertising anything. Where people are advertising, it's usually not subtle (I often report them).
Occasionally posters have accused regulars of being paid by BigAg or BigSugar (usually for saying occasional treats are fine in the context of a healthful diet), and that's generally absurd, and I haven't seen anyone in this discussion or MFP generally who seems like a paid operative. I do see a lot of people committed to diets and diet advice that I think is poor (the current carnivore fad is one that rather horrifies me), but I don't think they are paid operatives of BigBeef (or for that matter of Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan or whoever pushes that diet). Nor do I think vegan posters (even the ones who say goofy things, unlike the MFP regulars who are also vegans) are paid by PETA or whatnot.
One million years ago when the internet was younger and so was I (i.e., around 1999, when some posters legal on MFP had not yet been born), I used to post at Salon and made the mistake of coming out as Bradley-curious, only to be immediately accused of being a Bush operative or Republican operative (which sounded kind of grand and flattering, despite how it was meant, and plus I would have loved some extra cash, but was absolutely hilarious if you actually had read my posts, most of which were not even about politics -- it was an impressive commitment to a character if true). No real point here, except that it's something I always think about when accusations of being an operative or the like come up (and I do miss those days, sigh).
I've long suspected you were some kind of sleeper agent.
I'll bet if I could just figure out your trigger word you'd flood this whole site with spam.
5 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »
Oh my. I don't want any of those ingredients. Well..water and salt for those pedantics.
It's okay to not want something. You don't have to eat the burger, It's such a niche item anyway. I just hope this fixation on ingredients in general (not the ingredients in this specific burger) is not causing anxiety around food. I personally want every single one of these ingredients because each one serves a purpose, otherwise it wouldn't be there. From nutritional profile to taste to color to texture to storage safely. I'll take it.
If it makes you feel any better, most people seem to only really care about these type of ingredients when they are in a meat replacement.
To be fair, a lot of the concern is because animal foods are nutritious, staple foods. When you replace them with ultra processed/novel foods there's good reason for caution. When you see how much money is being spent to create this market it's even more concerning.
You accidentally hit on it, but not for the reason that you think. The reason why meat replacements have such a strong negative following against them is because the farmer and meat producer industries are extremely influential in America. A lot of jobs and economic activity in certain states revolve around these industries. And they are terrified of meat replacements because they know that while they are not quite there yet in terms of being ready for wide spread adoption (price point and lack of nutritional improvement being some limiters so far), they also know it's only a matter of time. How far are we from a beyond/impossible type meat replacement that tastes and cooks like meat but has a fraction of the fat and is cheaper than meat? I'd imagine it's single digit years until that happens.
So that's why they are waging both a PR and regulation war against meat replacements. It's why you see in all these "small government, conservative states", the ones that think clean water regulation is the devil, they are passing new laws to ban the term "veggie burger".
It's not because they are scared that plant based meat replacements are bad, it's because they are scared that they are good.
I'm pretty sure "big cattle" isn't sending people to these forums to hate on veggie burgers.
Also, the ingredients in meat replacements are grown by farmers, largely in "small government, conservative states."
I don't know whether that's touching naivete about motives or a lack of understanding about how the Internet can and is used. Or are you just questioning whether they send people or bots?
To be fair, I kinda agree. I don't think most of the disagreers here have anything to do with big cattle. They may have been socially conditioned by big cattle (no idea, I don't live in the US), but it's mostly just a knee jerk reaction because their choice feels superior and/or they feel their choices are being challenged. People don't like societal shifts in general and feel pride in their established beliefs and choices. Choice supportive bias is a very prevalent cognitive bias that we all have, so it tends to have an even larger effect with choices that we identify as part of our identity because of it having certain morality undertones ("I'm a meat eater and my choice is superior and not immoral, therefore the alternative choice must be inferior in some way"). Not to mention that people are generally wary of new things and are slow to accept them.
While I agree that some, probably most, people defending their meat-eating by disparaging meat alternatives are just circling the wagons on what they're used to and defending the morality of their choices, I was challenging the idea that one particular industry is not following what is today a common business practice.
It is possible both for
(1)"big cattle" isn't sending people to these forums to hate on veggie burgers.
to be false (as it would take only two individuals associated with, connected to, or hired by the cattle industry for it to be true) and
(2)I don't think most of the disagreers here have anything to do with big cattle
to be a correct belief (as it would only take one more than half of the disagreers to not have anything to do with big cattle).
Companies of all kinds pay people to influence discussions in social media. It's not remotely an unusual thing. When you see first-time posts from someone touting a supplement, a named diet that has books and other products associated with it, directing you to a specific website, do you really think none of them are doing so for a financial motive? Some bloggers are paid (in money or in goods) to say positive things about specific products. Pretty much any company of a decent size or sophistication has social media specialists in their communications departments. But nobody in the beef industry tries to influence public opinion in forums where meat alternatives are discussed?
ETA
Since you're not in the U.S., perhaps you are unaware that the cattle industry's tactics in the U.S. have included getting laws passed to prevent labeling that in any way suggests that meat alternatives are in fact "meat" alternatives, getting laws passed people from saying anything bad about beef, and suing people for saying anything that suggests there might be health advantages for trading some saturated fat animal products for unsaturated fat plant protein products. I'm not seeing them getting queasy over the idea of paying for some social media influencing.
My own theory is that big pharma pays people to put conspiracy theories based reasons on message boards. This encourages people to be checked for paranoia and use more anti-psychotics. So I never listen to people proposing anything remotely conspiratorial.5 -
just_Tomek wrote: »I see we are still at it nice and strong. Well at least its still somewhat on the topic.
Carry on.
^This. Carry on folks, carry on. Hey, does anyone remember the Oreo's thread? Maybe we can bring that back just for some fun.
The Oreo thread contains settled science and does not belong in the debate section.7 -
I fear that my secret business model is leaking out, before it has a chance to make my fortune.
I pretend to be a nice li'l ol retired lady, spending my spare time trying to help people** here on MFP with weight management, rowing, and basic nutrition.
Every time I post "I'm a vegetarian, but you don't need to do that for health" or "fake meat mostly tastes yucky, if you ask me", I earn 0.0035 cents from Big Meat.
Every time I post "Oreos are brown cardboard with denatured dollar store toothpaste filling" (sorry, Carlos) or "those Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies are just sweet, not delicious, and not worth their calories", I get 0.0026 cents from Pepperidge Farm. (I did get a nice bonus the day I compared Bel Vita nutritionally to Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal Cookies, though).
And so forth.
The work part of it is OK, but the back-office services-selling, database infrastructure development, and billing is killing me.
** Or as certain individuals on certain threads would have it, being a know-it-all show-off jerk for the simple pleasure of my own self-aggrandizement, without the slightest concern for others (I guess because no one cares about others?).6 -
I fear that my secret business model is leaking out, before it has a chance to make my fortune.
I pretend to be a nice li'l ol retired lady, spending my spare time trying to help people** here on MFP with weight management, rowing, and basic nutrition.
Every time I post "I'm a vegetarian, but you don't need to do that for health" or "fake meat mostly tastes yucky, if you ask me", I earn 0.0035 cents from Big Meat.
Every time I post "Oreos are brown cardboard with denatured dollar store toothpaste filling" (sorry, Carlos) or "those Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies are just sweet, not delicious, and not worth their calories", I get 0.0026 cents from Pepperidge Farm. (I did get a nice bonus the day I compared Bel Vita nutritionally to Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal Cookies, though).
And so forth.
The work part of it is OK, but the back-office services-selling, database infrastructure development, and billing is killing me.
** Or as certain individuals on certain threads would have it, being a know-it-all show-off jerk for the simple pleasure of my own self-aggrandizement, without the slightest concern for others (I guess because no one cares about others?).
Recently I outed myself as a shill for "Big Cheese" (aka the state of Wisconsin). My pay is freebies from my niece who is marketing manager for the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, cheese division.5 -
I fear that my secret business model is leaking out, before it has a chance to make my fortune.
I pretend to be a nice li'l ol retired lady, spending my spare time trying to help people** here on MFP with weight management, rowing, and basic nutrition.
Every time I post "I'm a vegetarian, but you don't need to do that for health" or "fake meat mostly tastes yucky, if you ask me", I earn 0.0035 cents from Big Meat.
Every time I post "Oreos are brown cardboard with denatured dollar store toothpaste filling" (sorry, Carlos) or "those Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies are just sweet, not delicious, and not worth their calories", I get 0.0026 cents from Pepperidge Farm. (I did get a nice bonus the day I compared Bel Vita nutritionally to Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal Cookies, though).
And so forth.
The work part of it is OK, but the back-office services-selling, database infrastructure development, and billing is killing me.
** Or as certain individuals on certain threads would have it, being a know-it-all show-off jerk for the simple pleasure of my own self-aggrandizement, without the slightest concern for others (I guess because no one cares about others?).
5 -
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.0 -
Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
Why does the "cleanness" of a vegan's diet matter to you at all? How does it impact you if I want to sometimes eat foods that have undergone processing?10 -
Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
Sorry, if I'm going vegan I'm going to be a filthy vegan.14 -
Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
Sorry, if I'm going vegan I'm going to be a filthy vegan.
i mean, i'm still going to shower so i will be a partially clean vegan...7 -
How does one sign up for the Big Cow payola? Asking for a friend...9
-
Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
Sorry, if I'm going vegan I'm going to be a filthy vegan.
We have the most fun!4 -
Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
And what is it about processing that is so bad?3 -
I thought the big cow wanted me to eat mo' chickin?9
-
Carlos_421 wrote: »Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
And what is it about processing that is so bad?
Or even broccoli, apparently! ;-)5 -
Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
Truly raw food veganism is pretty unsustainable - on the personal level, not environmental. Most research on actually adhering raw vegans shows they tend to be underweight and malnourished based on blood work as far as I'm aware. Some level of supplementing and some level of processing, even if done personally, are going to be involved in maintaining a vegan diet.6 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »Sylphadora wrote: »
I am very anti-processed food. I don't care if it's vegan or not. If you wanna be vegan, be vegan, but be a clean vegan. I do eat meat yet there is a lot of meat I don't buy because it has unnecessary ingredients. I watch where I put my money.Sylphadora wrote: »
Nope
Considering your profile says you will only eat "Meat. Eggs. Fish. Raw cheese. 100% chocolate" I suspect the fact that you won't eat a Beyond Burger doesn't really set it apart from all sorts of stuff that people interested in vegetarian burgers would be fine with, including pretty much everything they eat.
Truly raw food veganism is pretty unsustainable - on the personal level, not environmental. Most research on actually adhering raw vegans shows they tend to be underweight and malnourished based on blood work as far as I'm aware. Some level of supplementing and some level of processing, even if done personally, are going to be involved in maintaining a vegan diet.
Anecdotally, virtually every person I have heard of that abandoned veganism due to health problems was someone who was doing raw veganism, layering veganism with additional restrictions (like extended fasts), or demonstrating a hyperfocus on eating "clean." Even assuming it was nutritionally sustainable, the amount of time you'd need to dedicate to food prep would be prohibitive for most people. The balance of nutritional rewards to effort spent would be way off.13 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »AlabasterVerve wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »
Oh my. I don't want any of those ingredients. Well..water and salt for those pedantics.
It's okay to not want something. You don't have to eat the burger, It's such a niche item anyway. I just hope this fixation on ingredients in general (not the ingredients in this specific burger) is not causing anxiety around food. I personally want every single one of these ingredients because each one serves a purpose, otherwise it wouldn't be there. From nutritional profile to taste to color to texture to storage safely. I'll take it.
If it makes you feel any better, most people seem to only really care about these type of ingredients when they are in a meat replacement.
To be fair, a lot of the concern is because animal foods are nutritious, staple foods. When you replace them with ultra processed/novel foods there's good reason for caution. When you see how much money is being spent to create this market it's even more concerning.
You accidentally hit on it, but not for the reason that you think. The reason why meat replacements have such a strong negative following against them is because the farmer and meat producer industries are extremely influential in America. A lot of jobs and economic activity in certain states revolve around these industries. And they are terrified of meat replacements because they know that while they are not quite there yet in terms of being ready for wide spread adoption (price point and lack of nutritional improvement being some limiters so far), they also know it's only a matter of time. How far are we from a beyond/impossible type meat replacement that tastes and cooks like meat but has a fraction of the fat and is cheaper than meat? I'd imagine it's single digit years until that happens.
So that's why they are waging both a PR and regulation war against meat replacements. It's why you see in all these "small government, conservative states", the ones that think clean water regulation is the devil, they are passing new laws to ban the term "veggie burger".
It's not because they are scared that plant based meat replacements are bad, it's because they are scared that they are good.
I'm pretty sure "big cattle" isn't sending people to these forums to hate on veggie burgers.
Also, the ingredients in meat replacements are grown by farmers, largely in "small government, conservative states."
I don't know whether that's touching naivete about motives or a lack of understanding about how the Internet can and is used. Or are you just questioning whether they send people or bots?
To be fair, I kinda agree. I don't think most of the disagreers here have anything to do with big cattle. They may have been socially conditioned by big cattle (no idea, I don't live in the US), but it's mostly just a knee jerk reaction because their choice feels superior and/or they feel their choices are being challenged. People don't like societal shifts in general and feel pride in their established beliefs and choices. Choice supportive bias is a very prevalent cognitive bias that we all have, so it tends to have an even larger effect with choices that we identify as part of our identity because of it having certain morality undertones ("I'm a meat eater and my choice is superior and not immoral, therefore the alternative choice must be inferior in some way"). Not to mention that people are generally wary of new things and are slow to accept them.
While I agree that some, probably most, people defending their meat-eating by disparaging meat alternatives are just circling the wagons on what they're used to and defending the morality of their choices, I was challenging the idea that one particular industry is not following what is today a common business practice.
It is possible both for
(1)"big cattle" isn't sending people to these forums to hate on veggie burgers.
to be false (as it would take only two individuals associated with, connected to, or hired by the cattle industry for it to be true) and
(2)I don't think most of the disagreers here have anything to do with big cattle
to be a correct belief (as it would only take one more than half of the disagreers to not have anything to do with big cattle).
Companies of all kinds pay people to influence discussions in social media. It's not remotely an unusual thing. When you see first-time posts from someone touting a supplement, a named diet that has books and other products associated with it, directing you to a specific website, do you really think none of them are doing so for a financial motive? Some bloggers are paid (in money or in goods) to say positive things about specific products. Pretty much any company of a decent size or sophistication has social media specialists in their communications departments. But nobody in the beef industry tries to influence public opinion in forums where meat alternatives are discussed?
ETA
Since you're not in the U.S., perhaps you are unaware that the cattle industry's tactics in the U.S. have included getting laws passed to prevent labeling that in any way suggests that meat alternatives are in fact "meat" alternatives, getting laws passed people from saying anything bad about beef, and suing people for saying anything that suggests there might be health advantages for trading some saturated fat animal products for unsaturated fat plant protein products. I'm not seeing them getting queasy over the idea of paying for some social media influencing.
Holy propoganda, Batman.
Yes, suing those who call your product unhealthy is a telltale sign that you're sending people and bots to infiltrate the forums of a calorie counting app, create profiles, rack up hundreds of unrelated comments and wait for the opportunity to attack veggie burgers when a thread finally arises.
ETA: I'm not a member of big cattle (my uncle used to have a few cows but I'm a suburban guy) but I can see the reasoning behind labeling restriction against calling a product "meat" which doesn't contain meat.
Maybe I'm naive but I just dont see that as nefarious even if you can argue that it may be unnecessary.
ETA ETA: Also, it is not common business practice to infiltrate forums incognito.
It is becoming common business practice to advertise on Facebook, Instagram, etc. and sponsoring posts/creators on social media is still an emerging trend but even this is still not yet the business standard (most companies still have enough old school influence to believe they should only focus on larger advertising campaigns and value celebrity endorsements above social media content creators).
Even with sponsored posts, there is a great deal of regulation placed on the content creator and sponsorships must be disclosed.
So no, undercover "agents" infiltrating small forums like this one for the off chance that a thread about veggie burgers will come up is not at all standard business practice.
The kind of bots/spammers you're referring to just show up and create a spam thread as their first post.
I just wish there was some kind of warning before reading posts like the one you quoted so that I can put my tin foil hat on before I read them.3
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