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Thoughts on Beyond Burger and other fake meat

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  • IronIsMyTherapy
    IronIsMyTherapy Posts: 482 Member
    Factory meat ??

    It's manufactured. Yes, it has natural veggies etc but also has a chemical laxative and artificial preservative. Bottom line, it's not meat; it's a bunch of ingredients blended up and made to imitate meat in a factory.


    It is a burger patty - of course it is manufactured. And of course iit is a bunch of ingredients blended up .......isnt every recipe that???
    and of course It is not meat, that's the whole point.

    Nobody thinks burgers grow on trees, do they ??

    Possibly some prreservatives, Just like meat patties and most other non fresh raw foods

    Not sure what ingredient you think is a chemical laxative??? Or exactly what your point is????


    Yes, but a beef burger patty is made of beef. Beef is meat. No, burgers don't grow on trees, they grow in cows which is very different than a mixture of natural and man made ingredients mixed up to IMITATE meat. The burgers I make are made of whole ingredients, not anything that is manufactured. And yes, LOTS of processed foods are no different; I choose to avoid all of them.

    Methylcellulose is the chemical laxative. My point is I'd prefer to not ingest Beyond meat and I don't understand why anyone would. But I don't have to understand, I support freedom of choice. Not sure why people seem to feel personally attacked lol. Just stating my opinion on a thread titled "Thoughts on Beyond Burger and other fake meat".

    I don't think anyone feels personally attacked, it just seems odd to attack this food in particular for having a preservative or being put together in a factory when most fast food meat burgers have undergone a similar practice.

    I understand the burgers you make at home are from whole ingredients, but if you went to Burger King and got one of their burgers, it wouldn't be. The Beyond Burger should be judged on that standard, not against the standards of your diet that is preservative-free and consists only of whole foods.

    The non-meat eater who wants the same thing is already making their burgers at home, they're not out there buying Beyond Burgers.

    The reason I'm bringing this up is that it seems to be a recurrent theme in this thread. People are comparing the Beyond or Impossible Burger against the "pure" foods they're preparing for themselves and judging them as inferior.

    Let's say you had two options -- a Beyond Burger or a standard fast food burger. That's a more valid comparison. It's fine to say you'd choose neither, but your problem isn't really with the Beyond Burger in that situation, it's against food that has preservatives, isn't "whole," or involves industrial food production methods.

    Just seems odd to ask me to defend why I'm not a fan, which is where this started. Sure, they're probably no worse than a Whopper but I haven't been to Burger King in years and don't plan to go any sooner than I plan to have a Beyond burger; I'm not being inconsistent here. I AM judging them both on the same standards.

    Yes, if the thread was titled "Would you choose a Whopper or a Beyond Burger?" I'd probably have answered "whichever tastes better", but it's not. The whole point of this thread is to comment your thoughts; I guess negative thoughts aren't ok...?
  • IronIsMyTherapy
    IronIsMyTherapy Posts: 482 Member
    Factory meat ??

    It's manufactured. Yes, it has natural veggies etc but also has a chemical laxative and artificial preservative. Bottom line, it's not meat; it's a bunch of ingredients blended up and made to imitate meat in a factory.


    It is a burger patty - of course it is manufactured. And of course iit is a bunch of ingredients blended up .......isnt every recipe that???
    and of course It is not meat, that's the whole point.

    Nobody thinks burgers grow on trees, do they ??

    Possibly some prreservatives, Just like meat patties and most other non fresh raw foods

    Not sure what ingredient you think is a chemical laxative??? Or exactly what your point is????


    Yes, but a beef burger patty is made of beef. Beef is meat. No, burgers don't grow on trees, they grow in cows which is very different than a mixture of natural and man made ingredients mixed up to IMITATE meat. The burgers I make are made of whole ingredients, not anything that is manufactured. And yes, LOTS of processed foods are no different; I choose to avoid all of them.

    Methylcellulose is the chemical laxative. My point is I'd prefer to not ingest Beyond meat and I don't understand why anyone would. But I don't have to understand, I support freedom of choice. Not sure why people seem to feel personally attacked lol. Just stating my opinion on a thread titled "Thoughts on Beyond Burger and other fake meat".

    I don't think anyone feels personally attacked, it just seems odd to attack this food in particular for having a preservative or being put together in a factory when most fast food meat burgers have undergone a similar practice.

    I understand the burgers you make at home are from whole ingredients, but if you went to Burger King and got one of their burgers, it wouldn't be. The Beyond Burger should be judged on that standard, not against the standards of your diet that is preservative-free and consists only of whole foods.

    The non-meat eater who wants the same thing is already making their burgers at home, they're not out there buying Beyond Burgers.

    The reason I'm bringing this up is that it seems to be a recurrent theme in this thread. People are comparing the Beyond or Impossible Burger against the "pure" foods they're preparing for themselves and judging them as inferior.

    Let's say you had two options -- a Beyond Burger or a standard fast food burger. That's a more valid comparison. It's fine to say you'd choose neither, but your problem isn't really with the Beyond Burger in that situation, it's against food that has preservatives, isn't "whole," or involves industrial food production methods.

    Just seems odd to ask me to defend why I'm not a fan, which is where this started. Sure, they're probably no worse than a Whopper but I haven't been to Burger King in years and don't plan to go any sooner than I plan to have a Beyond burger; I'm not being inconsistent here. I AM judging them both on the same standards.

    Yes, if the thread was titled "Would you choose a Whopper or a Beyond Burger?" I'd probably have answered "whichever tastes better", but it's not. The whole point of this thread is to comment your thoughts; I guess negative thoughts aren't ok...?

    Nobody is saying your thoughts aren't "okay," it's that this is the debate section. When you make an argument here, people are going to respond to it. If you aren't comfortable with that or if you take it someone trying to silence you, maybe this isn't the best spot for you to post your thoughts.

    That your objection has nothing to do with the specific nature of the Beyond Burger or other faux meat is a useful clarification. It's more of an objection to any non-whole food, including fast food meat burgers, and that is absolutely relevant.

    Ahh, fair enough. I didn't realize this was the debate section.

    In that case, my stance is that it's not the smartest choice from a health perspective which doesn't quite align with the marketing stance of imitation meat companies. I'm not going to choose a Beyond Burger OR a Whopper if a homemade 93% or bison burger is an option. I also think fake meat is a dumb concept overall; if you dont eat flesh for moral reasons, why would you want imitation flesh? If you choose it for health reasons, aren't you aiming a little low? But obviously theres a huge market that disagrees.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    edited September 2020
    Factory meat ??

    It's manufactured. Yes, it has natural veggies etc but also has a chemical laxative and artificial preservative. Bottom line, it's not meat; it's a bunch of ingredients blended up and made to imitate meat in a factory.

    Chemical laxative? Artificial preservatives?

    These are the Beyond Burger ingredients: Water, Pea Protein*, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Beet Juice Extract (for color).

    Can you let me know which ones you're referring to?

    Methylcellulose is a bulk-forming laxative that increases the amount of water in your stools to help make them softer and easier to pass. Methylcellulose is used to treat constipation and to help maintain regular bowel movements.

    Potassium chloride (also known as KCl or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt-like taste.

    In this case it's being used to add some bulk to the burger and it's below the dose needed to provide a laxative effect. So what's the exact concern, given that it's an approved food ingredient?

    It's also basically fiber. Yes, burgers don't normally have fiber, but plenty of plant-based foods do, and cellulose itself is in many of them. Of course this version is manmade, but I don't get why it's meaningfully different. I don't supplement fiber since I get plenty in foods, but many do, and this ingredient is probably the most common way to do so.

    Re the salt, I admit it, I often add salt to my food when cooking (even ground beef!). I've also been known to put pickles (which tend to be high sodium) on a burger, and to put said burger on a, gasp! bun, which of course is not a whole food. Of course, the salt I use is sodium chloride, not potassium chloride, but it's not like potassium is worse for you than sodium (many get told to switch their type of salt by their doctor for health reasons, in fact).
  • sakurablossoms82
    sakurablossoms82 Posts: 62 Member
    I'm a vegetarian and not all vegetarians have time to spend a lot of time in the kitchen or don't want too. And instead want to take it easy and go for vegetarian burgers, nuggets or whatever replacement for meat. Same goes for vegans I assume.

    I think it's better to eat meat replacements like the beyond meat burger than eating a burger made out of meat.

    Nothing against people who eat meat or fish, you do you....
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,931 Member
    Factory meat ??

    It's manufactured. Yes, it has natural veggies etc but also has a chemical laxative and artificial preservative. Bottom line, it's not meat; it's a bunch of ingredients blended up and made to imitate meat in a factory.

    Chemical laxative? Artificial preservatives?

    These are the Beyond Burger ingredients: Water, Pea Protein*, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Beet Juice Extract (for color).

    Can you let me know which ones you're referring to?

    Methylcellulose is a bulk-forming laxative that increases the amount of water in your stools to help make them softer and easier to pass. Methylcellulose is used to treat constipation and to help maintain regular bowel movements.

    Potassium chloride (also known as KCl or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt-like taste.

    In this case it's being used to add some bulk to the burger and it's below the dose needed to provide a laxative effect. So what's the exact concern, given that it's an approved food ingredient?

    And what's the concern with the salt?

    Most food can be described as a "bunch of ingredients" and the Beyond Burger is far from being the only product on the market to use a bulk agent or salt as a preservative. So why avoid this food in particular?

    The concern is just that I prefer to avoid processed food. Why care if I avoid it? I sure don't care if you don't avoid it. I always find it interesting why people feel the need to defend their food choices; it feels like insecurity. I know how I prefer to eat, I know what works for me. If someone says "I love Beyond burgers!", I don't feel the need to convince them otherwise.

    I would say your defensiveness seems like insecurity to me.

    I also think you are misreading other posters replies - certainly mine.

    I don't care if you avoid it and I am not defending my own food choices - in fact I said earlier I do not eat burgers at all, either meat or non meat ones.
    Nothing to do with my superior non processed foods diet - I just dont like them.
    I do eat rissoles sometimes but I don't like the everything piled up in a bun format.

    I do care that objections make sense though - objecting to ingredients because in larger doses they are fibre supplements or calling something obviously not a whole food ' blended ingredients ' as if that is some unique horrid thing - doesn't make sense.

    If you just wouldn't eat them because you don't eat processed food, then just say that

    It isn't really a comment about Beyond burger but, sure, it is your view about food in general.

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    Factory meat ??

    It's manufactured. Yes, it has natural veggies etc but also has a chemical laxative and artificial preservative. Bottom line, it's not meat; it's a bunch of ingredients blended up and made to imitate meat in a factory.


    It is a burger patty - of course it is manufactured. And of course iit is a bunch of ingredients blended up .......isnt every recipe that???
    and of course It is not meat, that's the whole point.

    Nobody thinks burgers grow on trees, do they ??

    Possibly some prreservatives, Just like meat patties and most other non fresh raw foods

    Not sure what ingredient you think is a chemical laxative??? Or exactly what your point is????


    Yes, but a beef burger patty is made of beef. Beef is meat. No, burgers don't grow on trees, they grow in cows which is very different than a mixture of natural and man made ingredients mixed up to IMITATE meat. The burgers I make are made of whole ingredients, not anything that is manufactured. And yes, LOTS of processed foods are no different; I choose to avoid all of them.

    Methylcellulose is the chemical laxative. My point is I'd prefer to not ingest Beyond meat and I don't understand why anyone would. But I don't have to understand, I support freedom of choice. Not sure why people seem to feel personally attacked lol. Just stating my opinion on a thread titled "Thoughts on Beyond Burger and other fake meat".

    I don't think anyone feels personally attacked, it just seems odd to attack this food in particular for having a preservative or being put together in a factory when most fast food meat burgers have undergone a similar practice.

    I understand the burgers you make at home are from whole ingredients, but if you went to Burger King and got one of their burgers, it wouldn't be. The Beyond Burger should be judged on that standard, not against the standards of your diet that is preservative-free and consists only of whole foods.

    The non-meat eater who wants the same thing is already making their burgers at home, they're not out there buying Beyond Burgers.

    The reason I'm bringing this up is that it seems to be a recurrent theme in this thread. People are comparing the Beyond or Impossible Burger against the "pure" foods they're preparing for themselves and judging them as inferior.

    Let's say you had two options -- a Beyond Burger or a standard fast food burger. That's a more valid comparison. It's fine to say you'd choose neither, but your problem isn't really with the Beyond Burger in that situation, it's against food that has preservatives, isn't "whole," or involves industrial food production methods.

    Just seems odd to ask me to defend why I'm not a fan, which is where this started. Sure, they're probably no worse than a Whopper but I haven't been to Burger King in years and don't plan to go any sooner than I plan to have a Beyond burger; I'm not being inconsistent here. I AM judging them both on the same standards.

    Yes, if the thread was titled "Would you choose a Whopper or a Beyond Burger?" I'd probably have answered "whichever tastes better", but it's not. The whole point of this thread is to comment your thoughts; I guess negative thoughts aren't ok...?

    Nobody is saying your thoughts aren't "okay," it's that this is the debate section. When you make an argument here, people are going to respond to it. If you aren't comfortable with that or if you take it someone trying to silence you, maybe this isn't the best spot for you to post your thoughts.

    That your objection has nothing to do with the specific nature of the Beyond Burger or other faux meat is a useful clarification. It's more of an objection to any non-whole food, including fast food meat burgers, and that is absolutely relevant.

    Ahh, fair enough. I didn't realize this was the debate section.

    In that case, my stance is that it's not the smartest choice from a health perspective which doesn't quite align with the marketing stance of imitation meat companies. I'm not going to choose a Beyond Burger OR a Whopper if a homemade 93% or bison burger is an option. I also think fake meat is a dumb concept overall; if you dont eat flesh for moral reasons, why would you want imitation flesh? If you choose it for health reasons, aren't you aiming a little low? But obviously theres a huge market that disagrees.

    If someone's objection to meat is moral, not aesthetic, I don't see any reason they wouldn't want fake meat. Their moral objection isn't to the appearance or the taste; their moral objection is to the death of the animal or the suffering of the animal or the using of another living being as a means to their own ends (a tasty meal) rather than viewing it as an end in itself.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Factory meat ??

    It's manufactured. Yes, it has natural veggies etc but also has a chemical laxative and artificial preservative. Bottom line, it's not meat; it's a bunch of ingredients blended up and made to imitate meat in a factory.

    Chemical laxative? Artificial preservatives?

    These are the Beyond Burger ingredients: Water, Pea Protein*, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Beet Juice Extract (for color).

    Can you let me know which ones you're referring to?

    Methylcellulose is a bulk-forming laxative that increases the amount of water in your stools to help make them softer and easier to pass. Methylcellulose is used to treat constipation and to help maintain regular bowel movements.

    Potassium chloride (also known as KCl or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt-like taste.

    In this case it's being used to add some bulk to the burger and it's below the dose needed to provide a laxative effect. So what's the exact concern, given that it's an approved food ingredient?

    It's also basically fiber. Yes, burgers don't normally have fiber, but plenty of plant-based foods do, and cellulose itself is in many of them. Of course this version is manmade, but I don't get why it's meaningfully different. I don't supplement fiber since I get plenty in foods, but many do, and this ingredient is probably the most common way to do so.

    Re the salt, I admit it, I often add salt to my food when cooking (even ground beef!). I've also been known to put pickles (which tend to be high sodium) on a burger, and to put said burger on a, gasp! bun, which of course is not a whole food. Of course, the salt I use is sodium chloride, not potassium chloride, but it's not like potassium is worse for you than sodium (many get told to switch their type of salt by their doctor for health reasons, in fact).

    Yeah, I'm not sure how this is really different than having a protein bar with added fiber. I understand that people who consuming only whole foods would avoid that too, but that restriction doesn't apply to most of us.

    And I agree, adding salt (or higher sodium condiments/toppings) to a burger is pretty routine.
  • CierraEstelle
    CierraEstelle Posts: 30 Member
    They're super delicious, I love them. They have 20 grams of protein per patty, my local Costco has been carrying them. The only thing to watch out for with faux meats is the sodium content. Beyond burger patty has 350 mg.
  • Bluetail6
    Bluetail6 Posts: 2,874 Member
    They're super delicious, I love them. They have 20 grams of protein per patty, my local Costco has been carrying them. The only thing to watch out for with faux meats is the sodium content. Beyond burger patty has 350 mg.

    The sodium content makes it a no go for me. That is my personal problem with a lot of processed food in general. The added sodium, sugar, etc. I am only speaking for myself. Becoming a fastidious label reader has been a real eye opener.
  • xGreatWhiteNorthx
    xGreatWhiteNorthx Posts: 335 Member
    I prefer knowing what im eating so the more I can hunt, fish, grow and raise, the better.

    I'd either eat meat, or cut it out. Dont bother with the overprocessed junk.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,931 Member
    I prefer knowing what im eating so the more I can hunt, fish, grow and raise, the better.

    I'd either eat meat, or cut it out. Dont bother with the overprocessed junk.

    However, as has been pointed out already - the question isnt between Beyond Meat burger and freshly self caught salmon, it is between Beyond Meat burger and meat burger - they are pitching both to fast food consumers and if some of those would prefer a non meat burger, then it will be a sales winner.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    While I (a vegetarian) don't find most fake meats tasty or satisfying (so don't eat them), it does seem to me that fake meat discussions almost always trigger someone(s) to come in and comment on how processed, non-"clean", not whole-foods (or something similar) it is . . . in a way that rarely if ever happens when the subject is, say, protein bars, protein powder, or the like.

    There are also vast generalizations made (full of chemicals, for example) that don't suggest a deep understanding of the wide range of things marketed in one way or another as fake meat.

    We could argue all day about whether protein powder is "healthier" than fake meat (which I think is dumb because "healthy" is largely a whole-diet issue IMO, and both protein powder and fake meat are each a huge range of products). But I don't see how most protein powder is less processed, more whole, or maybe even more "clean". (As usual, I have no idea what "clean" is, so I'm not sure. It's one of those "I don't know what 'art' is, but I know what's not, when I see it' things, IMO.)

    For clarity: I think it's fine to eat fake meat or protein powder if you like it, and it fits into the context of an overall nutritious, calorie-appropriate diet.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I prefer knowing what im eating so the more I can hunt, fish, grow and raise, the better.

    I'd either eat meat, or cut it out. Dont bother with the overprocessed junk.

    However, as has been pointed out already - the question isnt between Beyond Meat burger and freshly self caught salmon, it is between Beyond Meat burger and meat burger - they are pitching both to fast food consumers and if some of those would prefer a non meat burger, then it will be a sales winner.

    Friday night was date night for me. We went to a bar and I had a beer and a Beyond Burger (outdoors and socially distanced from other diners, of course). The choice on the menu wasn't between a handmade burger from a cow I raised myself with homegrown toppings OR a Beyond Burger, it was between a regular beef hamburger and a Beyond Burger.

    I feel like this context is often missed, so I appreciate you bringing it up. The person who is committed to eating what they catch and grow isn't going to be ordering ANYTHING from a bar menu. I like to eat out sometimes, so the Beyond Burger is an acceptable option for me.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,457 Member
    It's coming sooner now that science is figuring it out. But lab grown meat may be the thing of the future. Less resources used, less animals being killed and the meat can be safer due to controlled system. Now it may not be as tasty since it's only focused on just the lean mean and not fat being grown with it, but that's what ketchup is for. :D

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • sal10851
    sal10851 Posts: 171 Member
    Avidkeo wrote: »
    Sigh.

    You do you. Like the taste, eat it. Don't like the taste, don't.

    Processed, unprocessed. Its all food. Calories in, calories out.

    What's the fear about processing?

    Processed food are designed to be highly palatable which triggers over consumption. Being mindful about food is not working or else the average person wouldn't be overweight or obese. It's not simply calories in and calories out but quality calories in and quality calories out.