How do new herbal burgers compare to beef?

In terms of diet in general, the important thing could be how the cakes are served, whether in Burger King, White Castle or anywhere else.

At Umami Burger in New York, for example, a hamburger with two Impossible cookies, cheese and pasta exceeds 1,000 calories. Few people would call it healthy, especially if they are served with fries and a soda.

"People will fool themselves into thinking that they are not just better, but healthy," said Yoni Freedhoff, an obesity expert at the University of Ottawa.

People may not realize that the saturated fat content can be similar to that of beef burgers, he said.

What's in it?

Ingredients from beyond the meat include pea protein and canola oil. Impossible Food's cookies contain soy protein and coconut oil. Impossible claims that its patties have a flavor and hue similar to those of beef, partly because of soy leghemoglobin, a protein made by the company by genetically modifying the yeast.

The meat industry, meanwhile, attracts people who prefer lists of simpler ingredients.

"A beef patty is a natural ingredient: beef," says the North American Meat Institute, which represents meat manufacturers.

How do they taste?

The taste is subjective, but critics generally say that Beyond Meat and Impossible burgers have a taste similar to that of meat.

Christian Acosta, who works in New York City, said he had several times the Impossible hamburger and could not tell the difference.

"It tastes the same as meat," he said, queuing for the hamburger for lunch.

Unlike steaks, breads, cheese and toppings can mask the differences in taste between beef and herbal burgers. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have also updated their recipes and could continue to do so to get even more meat.

HOW MUCH DO THEY COST?

The idea is to make sure that Beyond and Impossible burgers cost at least the same price as beef. For now, expect to pay more.

At Whole Whole Foods in New York, two Beyond Meat cakes cost $ 5.99, about double the price of two patties of ground beef. Impossible burgers are not yet available in grocery stores. But in a Bareburger restaurant in New York, it's $ 3 more for each of herbal cakes.

Are they better for the Earth?

Beef is considered a burden to the environment because of the resources needed to grow crops to feed the cows. Cows also produce methane, a greenhouse gas, mainly by burping.

Although grazing animals can play a positive role in the ecosystem, this is not the way most US animals are bred, said Christopher Field of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. and who knows the founder of Impossible Foods. But he noted that people do not have to give up meat entirely to make a difference and that pork and chicken have much smaller environmental footprints than beef.

AND AFTER?

On the horizon, meat is grown in laboratories by growing animal cells, but it will take some time before people can taste it.

For now, the solutions used to help cells grow are expensive and limited because they are primarily for medical therapy, "said Bruce Friedrich, Executive Director of the Good Food Institute, which advocates for meat substitutes.

Nevertheless, regulators have become aware and the meat industry is monitoring and mobilizing to "protect the nomenclature of beef".

Already, the debut of Beyond Meat as a public company may confirm the concerns of the meat industry. Years ago, a group of beef producers cited Beyond Meat as an issue to watch for, according to public information obtained by the Associated Press.

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