Meat Alternatives Research Articles

Woke Sausages at the Cracker Barrel: Gastronativism and the Synecdochic Politics of Plant-Based Meat

Abstract In August 2022, the U.S. restaurant chain Cracker Barrel introduced a meatless sausage patty—the “Impossible Sausage”—to its breakfast menu. A viral social media backlash against the restaurant ensued. Using Fabio Parasecoli's theory of gastronativism as a theoretical lens, we perform a critical rhetorical analysis of online commentaries regarding Cracker Barrel's Impossible Sausage with an eye toward synecdochic representation. We contend that the online “culture war” that ensued within and beyond Cracker Barrel's social media pages is representative of plant-based meat alternatives’ gastropolitical resonance in U.S. American identity construction. Two synecdoches emerge through our analysis, the Cracker Barrel restaurant as right-wing sacred space embedded in “tradition” and the Impossible Sausage as a leftist, progressive, contagious intrusion into this space. Discourses of faux-Southern identity, right-wing appeals to traditional ways of life, and white masculine victimhood are entrenched in these synecdochic tropes. Understanding the Cracker Barrel's meatless menu debacle as a manifestation of gastronativist synecdoche demonstrates the ideological significance of meat and plant-based meat in contemporary U.S. political imaginaries. Given plant-based foods’ increasing popularity among health- and environmentally conscious consumers, rhetoricians concerned with the intersections of food, power, and identity should take note of how flesh (non)consumption symbolically (re)constructs U.S. American gastropolitical identities.

Consumption of plant-based meat alternatives by regular consumers and their motivations to sustain long-term intake.

Consumption of plant-based meat alternatives by regular consumers and their motivations to sustain long-term intake.

Significance of Fermentation in Plant-Based Meat Analogs: A Critical Review of Nutrition, and Safety-Related Aspects.

Plant-based meat analogs have been shown to cause less harm for both human health and the environment compared to real meat, especially processed meat. However, the intense pressure to enhance the sensory qualities of plant-based meat alternatives has caused their nutritional and safety aspects to be overlooked. This paper reviews our current understanding of the nutrition and safety behind plant-based meat alternatives, proposing fermentation as a potential way of overcoming limitations in these aspects. Plant protein blends, fortification, and preservatives have been the main methods for enhancing the nutritional content and stability of plant-based meat alternatives, but concerns that include safety, nutrient deficiencies, low digestibility, high allergenicity, and high costs have been raised in their use. Fermentation with microorganisms such as Bacillus subtilis, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Neurospora intermedia, and Rhizopus oryzae improves digestibility and reduces allergenicity and antinutritive factors more effectively. At the same time, microbial metabolites can boost the final product's safety, nutrition, and sensory quality, although some concerns regarding their toxicity remain. Designing a single starter culture or microbial consortium for plant-based meat alternatives can be a novel solution for advancing the health benefits of the final product while still fulfilling the demands of an expanding and sustainable economy.

Generation of Meaty Aroma from Onion (Allium cepa L.) with Polyporus umbellatus: Fermentation System, Sensory Profile, and Aroma Characterization.

One of the main reasons for consumer rejection of plant-based meat alternatives is the lack of meaty flavor after cooking. In this study, a platform was developed to generate meaty flavors solely from Allium substrates (chives, leeks, ramsons, and onions) using basidiomycete-mediated submerged fermentations. Polyporus umbellatus-mediated fermentation of onions resulted in an intense meaty and liver sausage-like flavor under proper fermentation parameters. Using multisolvent and solvent-free aroma extractions coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry, 5 odorants with high assigned flavor dilution (FD) factors (≥ 256) were identified in the fermented sample that have been reported in the literature as important aroma compounds of meat products: methyl palmitate, bis(2-methyl-furyl) disulfide, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal, γ-nonalactone, and eugenol. Using selected ion monitoring, the presence of bis(2-methyl-furyl) disulfide (meaty, savory, FD 256) after fermentation was confirmed. It was proposed that P. umbellatus enzymatically forms bis(2-methyl-furyl) disulfide from intermediates derived from the thermal degradation of thiamine.

I've got the power: Encouraging pro-environmental behavior through messaging

Manufacturers and retailers are introducing pro-environmental alternatives (such as alternative meat products) to more conventional and less environmentally friendly products in order to encourage sustainable consumption. In this research, we test the impact of product-related environmental information, self-efficacy, power messages, and green consumption values (GCV) on purchase intentions and choice of pro-environmental alternatives. Our findings suggest that the effect of environmental information on purchase intentions for pro-environmental alternatives is stronger for individuals with high self-efficacy. We show that using power messages in marketing communications as an intervention has an effect similar to self-efficacy on purchase intentions toward the alternative. We also show that the power message manipulation interacts with GCV in enhancing perceptions of the individual’s environmental impact, which further influences purchase intentions and choice of the pro-environmental option. This research has implications for the literature on environmental messaging, advertisers, and marketers of sustainable products.

How do defaults and framing influence food choice? An intervention aimed at promoting plant-based choice in online menus

Nudging consumers towards plant-based foods by making these choices the default option is a promising strategy for effecting sustainable dietary change. In the hypothetical context of online food ordering in a Northern European country, we examined the underlying mechanisms and effectiveness of swapping the default in menus from meat to a plant-based meat alternative. Results showed that pre-selecting a plant-based option in the online setting was not enough to increase choice of plant-based meals alone. Rather, additionally framing the plant-based default as the more sustainable or tasty option was needed to significantly increase choice. While ease was unimportant and held constant in this online setting, endowment and implied endorsement were found to mediate default success such that the positive influence of endowment outweighed the (surprising) negative effect via endorsement. In contrast to general theoretical expectations of default nudges, an endorsement by an online food provider is unlikely to encourage plant-based choices.

Investigating Factors Influencing the Silent Generation’s Intention to Choose a Dish Featuring Plant-based Meat Alternatives at a Restaurant

Investigating Factors Influencing the Silent Generation’s Intention to Choose a Dish Featuring Plant-based Meat Alternatives at a Restaurant

Exploring Underlying Beliefs of the “silent Generation” Regarding Plant-based Meat Alternatives: A Qualitative Study Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

Exploring Underlying Beliefs of the “silent Generation” Regarding Plant-based Meat Alternatives: A Qualitative Study Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

Estimating consumers’ willingness to pay for plant-based meat and cultured meat in China

Plant-based meat and cultured meat are two emerging alternatives to meat products as they have the potential to mitigate the adverse health and environmental impacts associated with meat consumption and production. Given plant-based meat is still in its infancy and cultured meat is not yet available in China, it is important to understand the economic implications of consumer’s preference for these meat alternatives. With an online consumer survey, we elicit consumer’s willingness to pay (WTP) for these two meat alternatives using a payment card method, and specifically examine the effects of six different types of information on consumer’s WTPs. Our main findings first indicate that positive/negative information has positive/negative effects on consumers’ WTP. With positive information, both nutritional and environmental information increase consumers’ WTPs. Moreover, specific information has a larger effect than general information, only for positive nutritional information. Lastly, knowledge about these meat alternatives, self-reported previous experiences with the meat alternative, education, income level, and the presence of children are positively associated with consumers’ WTPs, while age is negatively associated. These findings may facilitate designing effective consumer information campaigns, ultimately aiding in consumers’ choice of the meat alternatives.

A review on development of plant‐based meat analogues as future sustainable food

SummaryConsumers worldwide want to improve their diets by consuming nutritional and eco‐friendly products in their food. The demand for plant‐based meat analogues (PBMA) has increased due to the adverse effects on animals, people, and the environment. ‘Meat analogue’ means to use a substitute for meat as the primary element. The rising desire for ‘good for you’ and ‘good for the planet’ is driving the demand for plant‐based meat alternatives. This manuscript describes the methods and orientation used to create meat analogues that mimic meat. The term ‘bottom‐up approach’ describes putting together a structure from the ground up. By systematically structuring proteins through the assembly of individual structural pieces, bottom‐up processes can approach the design of the meat. The top‐down method is more efficient and scalable, but it can only generate the required shape at massive scales. Therefore, this review discussed various production methods and their processing consequences on PBMAs proposed for creating sustainable foods to enhance their structural and techno‐functionality.

Meat versus meat alternatives: which is better for the environment and health? A nutritional and environmental analysis of animal-based products compared with their plant-based alternatives.

Poor diets lead to negative health outcomes, including increased risk of noncommunicable diseases. Food systems, most notably agriculture, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) that lead to climate change. Meat consumption plays a role in both health and environmental burden. Consumption of meat alternatives may reduce these harms. The aim was to compare meat products and their plant-based alternatives on nutritional parameters, GHGE and price to examine if it is feasible and beneficial for policymakers and health professionals to recommend meat alternatives. Data on nutritional information and cost for 99 selected products were collected from five UK supermarkets. Estimates for GHGEs for 97 of these products were found through secondary articles. Median values for nutritional value, GHGE (kgCO2 e) and price per 100 g were calculated to allow comparisons between meat products and their alternatives. Mann-Whitney U tests were used to look for significant differences for each nutrient, emissions and price. Meat alternatives contained significantly more fibre and sugar and were significantly higher in price compared to the equivalent meat products. Meat alternatives had a significantly lower number of calories, saturated fat, protein and kgCO2 e than meat products. There was no significant difference in the amount of salt between meat and meat alternatives. Overall, this paper found that meat alternatives are likely to be better for health according to most parameters, while also being more environmentally friendly, with lower GHGEs. However, the higher price of these products may be a barrier to switching to meat alternatives for the poorest in society.

A comparison of influencing factors on attitudes towards plant-based, insect-based and cultured meat alternatives in Germany

Understanding consumer attitudes towards meat alternatives is critical for reducing conventional meat consumption and associated negative environmental impacts. This study investigates factors influencing consumer attitudes in Germany and directly compares three prominent meat alternatives: plant-based, insect-based, and cultured meat alternatives. Based on a sample of 1,561 participants derived from a nationally representative, single dataset, the influence of several sociodemographic factors, frequency of meat consumption, experience with meat alternatives as well as climate, environmental and animal welfare concerns was analyzed by applying partial-proportional-odds ordered logistic regression models. The main results show that attitudes towards meat alternatives are rather restrained within the German population. Regardless of a certain type of meat alternative, attitudes are more positive among younger people from more urban areas, who are somehow familiar with meat alternatives. This also tends to be true for people with stronger concerns for climate, animal welfare and the environment. For some characteristics effect size as well as direction differ depending on the type of meat alternative: Males with a more meat-centered diet are more positively disposed towards insect-based meat alternatives and cultured meat, whereas for plant-based meat alternatives people with a less meat-centered diet have a more positive attitude. Implications for (policy) interventions to increase favorable consumer attitudes towards specific meat alternatives are discussed.

What are Brazilian plant-based meat products delivering to consumers? A look at the ingredients, allergens, label claims, and nutritional value

The aim of this study was to analyze the labels of plant-based meat analogues (PBMAs) sold in Brazilian supermarkets. The study focused on ingredient lists, allergens, label claims, and nutritional values. Of the 59 products analyzed, 38 listed soy as the primary source of protein, while pea and wheat were the next most common sources. Sunflower oil was the most frequently listed lipid source, appearing in 19 of the products. The labels of 70% of the products made claims such as "100% vegetable," "no preservatives or colorings," and "source of fiber." Compared to traditional meat products, PBMAs showed wide variation in energy, protein, lipid, and carbohydrate values. The highest protein content was found in hamburgers, meat/chicken, sausage, and hotdogs, while hamburgers and meatballs had the highest saturated fat content. When compared to legislation on meat products, only 49% and 23% of the PBMAs met the minimum protein and maximum carbohydrate levels, respectively. These findings suggest that dedicated regulations for plant-based meat alternatives are necessary to ensure consumers can make informed choices and support the development of the plant-based meat industry.

Mimicking Wagyu beef fat in cultured meat: Progress in edible bovine adipose tissue production with controllable fatty acid composition.

Since the current process of livestock meat production has considerable effects on the global environment, leading to high emissions of greenhouse gases, cultured meat has recently attracted attention as a suitable alternative way to acquire animal proteins. However, while most published studies on cell-cultured meat have focused on muscle tissue culture, fat production which is an important component of the process has often been neglected from this technology, even though it can enhance the meat's final taste, aroma, tenderness, texture, and palatability. In this study, we focused on bovine muscle reconstruction by monitoring and optimizing the possible expansion rate of isolated primary bovine adipose stem cells and their adipogenesis differentiation to be fully edible for cultured meat application. After approximatively 100 days of serial passages, the bovine adipose-derived stem cells, isolated from muscle tissue, underwent 57​±​5 doublings in the edible cell culture medium condition. This implies that by cultivating and amplifying them, a minimum of 2.9​×​1022​cells can be obtained from around 10​g of fat. It was discovered that these cells retain their adipogenesis differentiation ability for at least 12 passages. Moreover, the final lipid composition could be controlled by adjusting the fatty acid composition of the culture medium during the differentiation process, resulting in organoleptic features similar to those of real fat from muscle. This was especially so for the cis isomer oleic acid percentage, an important part of high-grade Japanese Wagyu meat. These characteristics of the primary bovine adipose-derived stem cell proliferation and adipogenesis differentiation provide valuable insights for the in vitro production of meat alternatives.

Effects of green nudges on consumer valuation of sustainable food: A discrete choice experiment

Sustainable nutrition is becoming increasingly relevant in society. This empirical study suggests that green nudges can encourage consumers to buy food that has an ecology or animal welfare label.This paper analyzes whether green nudges ‐ displaying nature pictures or providing information on other people’s behavior before the consumer makes a choice ‐ can promote more environmentally friendly food choices. Based on data from an online, discrete choice experiment conducted in Germany, in which randomly selected groups of participants were shown either one of the nudges (treatment groups) or no nudge (control group), the study finds that green nudges increase individuals’ willingness to pay more for products that have ecology and animal welfare labels. However, consumers in one of the treatment groups were willing to pay more for meat rather than the meat alternative, indicating that nudges can have an effect opposite from that intended. Future research should investigate the impact of these relatively cheap interventions with a representative sample and in a field setting.

Dietary patterns and environmental impacts of Chongqing hotpot in China

Understanding the food choices of local people is key to identifying practical opportunities for sustainable dietary change. Here, we assess the dietary pattern and environmental impacts of Chongqing hotpot in China, a local food in the Szechuan Basin enjoyed by ∼110 million people primarily in restaurants with an increasing popularity nationwide. Through a yearlong survey, we find that hotpot meals are characterized by overconsumption (588.7 g/cap/meal), especially of animal-based products (∼70%). The embedded carbon footprint (CF) of hotpot reaches 3.5 kg CO2e per capita per meal; by contrast, the CF of recommended diets per capita per day in China is 2.3–3.7 kg CO2e. Its water footprint shows a similar trend. Hotpot meals are also more wasteful than other types of restaurant food (80.4 vs. 54.1–75.0 g/cap/meal). Our study raises concern about the environmental impacts of Chongqing hotpot. To mitigate these impacts, intervention strategies that should be considered include small-portion plates and plant-based meat alternatives.

Plant based meat alternative, from cradle to company-gate: A case study uncovering the environmental impact of the Swedish pea protein value chain

Dry-fractioned pea protein concentrate can be moulded into meat-analogue products, and understanding the environmental impact and hot spots of this expanding industry segment could pave the road to broader adoption of these protein sources. Hence, this research measures the environmental performance of a green pea protein supply chain in southern Sweden that processes pea protein concentrate into pea protein sausages. A cradle-to-factory-gate life-cycle assessment was performed. 1 kg of pea protein concentrate at 46% and 1 kg of pea protein sausages were chosen as functional units, while ReCiPe 2016 v1.1 Midpoint E was utilized to calculate 18 impact categories. Economic allocation was applied to pea protein processing, and mass allocation to sausage production, using 2021/22 data from Swedish companies. For 1 kg of pea protein concentrate of 46%, cultivation contributes to 41–99% of the total impact considering all 18 impact categories, while processing 1–59%. The climate impact was 1.91 kg CO2eq/kg pea protein concentrate (1.54 from the cultivation step and 0.37 from the processing step). For 1 kg of pea protein sausages, cultivation and sausage production contributed together between 32% and 78% to the total impacts. The climate impact was 1.0 kg CO2eq/kg sausage. Comparing the climate impacts of sausage ingredients, rapeseed oil and spices contributed significantly. For the sausage production stage, electricity and natural gas contributed the most. The results for climate impact are in the same range as for similar plant-based products, although the range reported in literature is wide. Green pea cultivation, sausage production and ingredients contributed all significantly. The results highlight the need to address the choice of ingredients when formulating the final product. The choice of allocation method had a significant impact on the results. Mass allocation resulted in 6 times lower impacts for the pea protein concentrate compared to economic allocation.

Alternative meats and alternative facts

The alternative animal product arena is complex and quite var­ied. Some plant-based alternative meat products are derived entirely from plants. Other entrepreneurs are using cultivated cells of animal origin to derive a product structurally similar to meat and milk and comprised of animal proteins. Many of these endeavors use a combination of both approaches with the plant-based product providing filler for the cultivated meat or milk product. Most of the discussion around alternative meats has focused on bovine alternatives because of the iconic position of cattle in many climate and sustainability discussions. A consid­erable amount of capital has been raised based on the
 envisioned market share of these products, although estimates vary widely, and the high profile initial public offering of Beyond Meat shares in May 2019 which saw share prices soar from $75 to $235, has this year seen share prices plummet to about one-tenth of that highest price. Proponents of alternative meats suggest these production systems are more sustainable based on antici­patory greenhouse gas emission (GHG) and land use life-cycle assessment (LCA)/kilogram (kg) of product, as compared to LCA metrics for ruminant meat. Much of the rationale
 invokes a simplistic narrative around GHG/kg of protein. The GHG “sustainability” metric will invariably reflect poorly on ruminants as they are uniquely able to digest cellulose through their rumen microbes, and the methanogens produces methane which is a potent but short-lived greenhouse gas. And because ruminants are typically grazing in marginal land unsuitable for producing crops, they also have a high land use m2/kg of protein. However, there is no reason to conclude that food production on well-managed pasture and rangeland is, a priori, less sustainable than food production of well-managed arable cropland. More­over, the other sustainability externalities of ruminant meat production systems such as the provision of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, the consumption of inedible food waste and cellulose, manure, transportation, contributions to the livelihoods and food security of 1.3 billion livestock keepers, the fact that meat provides nutrients in addition to protein, and that existing harvesting systems utilize everything but the “moo” are often ignored or simply disregarded.

Texturization of plant protein-based meat alternatives: Processing, base proteins, and other constructional ingredients

Recent awareness related to health concerns and environmental sustainability issues have led to changes in consumer preference toward plant-based proteins and the related market has been booming with growing investments and new plant-based alternatives. However, this relatively new market needs to make improvements in the quality of products (e.g., texture, flavor, and color) to match those of meat and cheese products. Specifically, forming an anisotropic structure to have similar textural properties has become one of the biggest challenges. To enable this, advanced and novel technologies (e.g., extrusion, shear-structuring, 3D printing, electrospinning, and freeze-structuring), as well as functional ingredients (e.g., binding/viscoelastic agents, crosslinkers), have been introduced to provide meat-like textures to analogue products. Even though the texture-related problems of meat alternatives have been resolved to some extent with use of methylcellulose or wheat gluten, there is still a search for natural and chemically-free ingredients to align with a desire for “clean label” products. Here, we postulate that corn zein, and perhaps other similar viscoelastic plant proteins, can be used to provide the necessary textural properties to plant-based meat analogues instead of currently used ingredients. In this review, a comprehensive assessment of state-of-the-field processing techniques as well as functional ingredients (both already available and potential ones) necessary to provide the desired characteristics to plant-based protein products is given.

Developing concentrated emulsion gel hybrids structured by natural food fibres

The integration of healthy unsaturated fat into plant-based meat alternatives is being advocated worldwide but remains technically challenging, due to limitations in the textural qualities and processability of edible oil. One way to improve the rheological behaviour of oil is via emulsion gel technology. However, adaptable solutions for real-life food processing are few and far between. On this basis, we formulated physically stable emulsion gel hybrid templates with 50–83% sunflower oil load, mostly oil-in-water microstructure, and structured solely by natural food fibres without using oleogelators. The fibres included citrus fibre and soy polysaccharides as emulsifying fibres, and curdlan and deacetylated konjac glucomannan as structuring fibres. Upon heating, they developed stiffness up to 10E4 Pa in storage modulus G′. Here, we present the first characterisation of such fibre-based emulsion gel hybrids through analysis by epifluorescence microscopy, oscillatory rheology, and diffusing wave spectroscopy, and report underlying composition-structure-rheology-thermal behaviour relations. The key findings are that strength in the emulsion gel hybrid could come from combinations of the following observed mechanisms: (i) tiny droplets of dispersed phase droplets with high curvature, (ii) emulsifying fibre of high molecular weight, (iii) controlled interference from emulsifying fibre on the viscoelastic network development of structuring fibre, and (iv) for additional shear stability, highly aggregated state of dispersed phase droplets without coalescence. Promising templates bearing close resemblance to animal fat references such as pork belly fat (in terms of G′), and shear stability with potential toward extrusion and food printing application have been identified.