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UK supermarket Tesco sets 300% sales target for plant-based alternatives to meat

lowdose 6y ago
> The UK’s largest supermarket will on Tuesday commit to boosting sales of meat alternatives by 300% within five years, by 2025. Over the past year, demand for chilled meat-free foods – the most popular line including burger, sausage and mince substitutes – has increased by almost 50%, the retailer said. When the sales of this vegan category is $1 today the target will be reached by $3. Ok could be sloppy reporting of the Guardian but also the press release of Tesco [0] doesn't mention amount of sales in a valuta. The Guardian almost did a one on one copy pasta here. Meat replacers are much more expensive sometimes with a markup of 300% compared to meat. When measuring the environment effects of meat replacer sales, committing to a weight goal would even be more transparent so the public knows how much damage is prevented by Tesco. [0] https://m.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/TESCO-PLC-4000540/news/Tesco-commits-to-300-sales-increase-in-meat-alternatives-31374847/ https://m.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/TESCO-PLC-4000540/n...
dageshi 6y ago
Given the frequency I see the meat alternatives in the discounted section in various supermarkets I've visited, I think they have some work on their hands.
- nickff 6y ago
  Yes, they have a lot of work on their hands. This is a classic Innovator's Dilemma, where an 'inferior' product technology/configuration/design starts off by taking over a niche, then gradually improves until it dominates the field.
- giarc 6y ago
  I've never seen any in store demo's for any of the various products. I'd definitely try it if I could, but don't want to spend $15 on a few patties for a product I've never tried.
- mhh__ 6y ago
  Whether they sell or not, meat alternatives should last longer, no? If they last longer that means they can afford to buy more to sell later
  - Alupis 6y ago
    I don't think they last longer at all. They're heavily processed plant matter, not whole plants.
  - tomp 6y ago
    The more processed the food is, the longer it lasts. So, "yes".
    - rsynnott 6y ago
      Not universally true. Notably, see bread. You can store grain or flour for quite a long time, but not bread :)
OneGuy123 6y ago
All of these plant based alternatives to meat are garbage filled with processed seed oils and additives. To belive you can "add a vitamin here and there" and that that makes it a real nutrititious food equivalent of meat is laughably bad scienece, but people for some reason don't seem to get that.
- myvoiceismypass 6y ago
  The more apt comparison for these types of items talked about in this article is to processed meat products. Do meat eaters eat fast food quality hamburgers on a daily basis for “real nutrition”?
  - paulnechifor 6y ago
    It takes more "alchemy" to make vegetables look and taste like processed meat than it takes to turn meat into processed meat. Edit: Wow, vegan valley bros are so easily upset.
    - sthnblllII 6y ago
      It stuffs its face with neoliberal schemes or else it gets the downvote again. Just to add a bit more here, I would be ok with the massive marketing and media push from capital to sell dirt cheap less-nutritious processed foods as a substitute for real meat if the billionaires and such like were actually making tangible sacrifices to their own lifestyles. Obviously they are not, but they still think they can trick us into believing we can be morally superior by paying porterhouse prices for potato flower and xanthin gum.
      - rsynnott 6y ago
        > sell dirt cheap less-nutritious processed foods as a substitute for real meat In general, the primary market for processed vegan food is people who currently buy processed meat-based food. Supermarkets, of course, already sell vegetables and legumes.
  - 6y ago
Neil44 6y ago
300% of very little is still not that much, but it's a good aim.
issa 6y ago
I've been vegan for 30 years so obviously I think it is about time. From an innovation/start-up perspective, this is an exciting time. If things continue moving this quickly, lab-grown meat will be regularly available soon. Whatever your personal feelings about animals, this is a huge win for the environment.
- cmroanirgo 6y ago
  For me, anything "lab grown" is definitely less preferable to naturally grown foods. So, even though I'm vegetarian, I would absolutely prefer to be eating meat than fake food, with unknown genetic and cellular anomalies. Just look at the chemical cocktail that's in any off- the- shelf "meat alternative" products. No way do I want that stuff in my body. If Tesco, or any big retailer was honest about increasing sustainability, they'd be focusing on how to decentralize warehousing and shipping, and a simple solution is to support local farming. Unfortunately, the world doesn't operate this way, and we're stuck with this need to purchase food from far flung parts of the world.
  - issa 6y ago
    I don't think there is a single answer to improving how humans create and consume food. You're definitely right that transportation is a huge issue. So is waste, environmental damage from animal agriculture, etc. The closer we can get to Star Trek replicators, the better.
- thefounder 6y ago
  I think vegan/fake "meat" and lab-grown meat are/should be marketed as two different things, the later still being meat that happens to grown in a lab. I'm not sure why people would be interested to consume meat grown in a lab considering all the unknowns/risks.
  - rsynnott 6y ago
    > I'm not sure why people would be interested to consume meat grown in a lab considering all the unknowns/risks. Which ones? In general, most food-borne illnesses are a result of either faecal contamination, diseased animals, or poor post-production handling. 'Lab-grown' meat should be generally free of the first two. Obviously nothing's perfect, but it should in general be much easier to avoid contamination than in a slaughterhouse.
vanilla-almond 6y ago
Here's an example of vegan, plant-based foods from another UK supermarket called Asda (their own-branded range). https://groceries.asda.com/cmslisting/content/event?N=1027374613 https://groceries.asda.com/cmslisting/content/event?N=102737... I have tried their 'Vegan Vegetable Fingers' and they are quite nice. However, I suspect many of these foods still count as 'processed foods'. Some consumers might mistakenly think they are healthy because they are plant-based (and the packaging will re-enforce that). Here are the ingredients for the 'Vegan Vegetable Fingers' - would you buy these based on these ingredients? Or would the ingredients put you off? - Vegetables (51%) [Carrots, Sweetcorn, Peas, Onions, Potatoes] - Fortified Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1)] - Water - Sunflower Oil - Potato Flakes, Maize Starch, Wheat Gluten - Salt, Sugar - Rye Flour, Yeast Extract - Pea Fibre - Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Yeast, White Pepper, Tomato Powder, Red Pepper Powder, Parsley, Flavouring, Sage, Black Pepper Extract, Sage Extract https://groceries.asda.com/product/nuggets-fingers/asda-plant-based-16-vegan-vegetable-fingers/910002378536 https://groceries.asda.com/product/nuggets-fingers/asda-plan...
- alistairSH 6y ago
  That list doesn't look terrible. I personally wouldn't eat it in place of meat (or at all) because of the wheat/gluten content. We do have some meat substitutes in the US that are gluten free (Impossible Burger) that tastes ok and has reasonable mouth-feel.
  - chrisweekly 6y ago
    +1 for Impossible Burgers!
- myth_drannon 6y ago
  Yes, this ones is a healthy option comparing to for example Beyond Meat burger which is mostly different oils (Palm oil :( ) and pea protein and sodium - very tasty comparing to other brands but so unhealthy.
  - tpmx 6y ago
02020202 6y ago
well, i guess it is time to short this stock :D
eplanit 6y ago
The Soylent Green generation has arrived. It's perfect that Tuesday is the day of the announcement. "The UK’s largest supermarket will on Tuesday commit to boosting sales of meat alternatives by 300% within five years, by 2025."
alltakendamned 6y ago
I imagine that by saying "plant-based meat alternatives" they don't mean beans. I eat vegetarian myself, and while on one side I'm happy there are more plant-based alternatives available, it does make me quite uncomfortable that many of these are hyper-processed industrial foods. Food being plant-based or natural does not automatically make it more healthy.
- rat9988 6y ago
  The goal is to improve animals living conditions. At least for me, that is.
- voisin 6y ago
  No idea why you are being downvoted. This is dead on. Oreos are vegan, but it doesn’t make them healthy. I think the terms Vegetarian and Vegan are extremely misleading as most people assume that means healthy. I prefer “Whole Food, Plant Based” which would be hard to eat in an unhealthy manner.
dreen 6y ago
Having moved from middle of European continent into UK I have to say it is VERY easy to be a vegetarian or vegan here due to large variety and availability of substitutes. Previously most people I've met didn't really know what it meant to be one, they usually mistook it for pescetarianism (due to Catholic beliefs), and most vegetarians were hippies. Here it's not unusual for people not to eat meat, on no other grounds that they simply don't like it and never did.
user5994461 6y ago
I have yet to see a vegan substitute in Tesco/Sainsbury that's cheaper than the meat it's supposed to compare to. Found a few products that were nice but at £10-20 a kg it's not food it's a curiosity.
lm28469 6y ago
I've tried all the "plant-based alternatives to meat" I could find and they were either passable or almost vomit-inducing, the best ones barely taste as good as the cheapest meat I could get my hands on (frozen supermarket brand burger patties). I'll stick to halloumi burgers and salads/veggies, especially with the dubious nutritional qualities, origin of the raw ingredients and price of these things.
mrwh 6y ago
For some more UK context, Gregg's (a cheap baker on most British high streets) started offering a vegan version of their sausage roll and it was a GIANT success: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200202-how-did-the-vegan-sausage-roll-get-so-popular https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200202-how-did-the-ve...
smeeth 6y ago
Reading the handwringing over health in the comments it's pretty obvious some people have absolutely no idea what they're actually eating when they consume meat products. Oh no! Processed seed oils! Give me a fucking break, we pump cows so full of hormones 8 year old girls are getting their periods [0]. Let's have some moral and factual clarity around the issue here, Vegetarians and Vegans are about the last people to argue processed foods are good, but we should keep our eyes on the prize: modern meat farming is awful for everyone involved. If you don't like it then don't eat it. [0] https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2016/06/22/precocious-puberty-girls-increasing-and-alarming#:~:text=Meat%2C%20Especially%20Hormone%2DRaised%20Meat,an%20early%20start%20of%20menstruation https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2016/06/22/precoci....
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
  >> Give me a fucking break, we pump cows so full of hormones 8 year old girls are getting their periods [0]. Who is "we"? The EU has banned the use of hormones in farm animals for growth promotion since 1981 and for most other uses in subsequent years: In 1981, with Directive 81/602/EEC, the EU prohibited the use of substances having a hormonal action for growth promotion in farm animals. Examples for these kind of growth promoters are oestradiol 17ß, testosterone, progesterone, zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengestrol acetate (MGA). https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/chemical_safety/meat_hormones_en https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/chemical_safety/meat_hormon... Note also (same link): The United States and Canada contested the prohibition of the use of hormones as growth promoters in food producing animals, and in 1997 a panel of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled that the EU measure was not in line with the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). Eventually the EU was forced to accept importation of meat from animals treated with hormones. In any case, there's no "we". Some countries do what you say, but not all.
  - smeeth 6y ago
    I seem to be guilty of America-centrism again, my apologies. I should clarify that my point has less to do with hormones specifically and more about how this comment section is applying a double standard of healthiness to meat alternatives generally. When it comes to industrial meat production if it ain’t one thing it’s another: feed quality/chemicals, handling/sale of diseased meat, animal waste on food, antibiotic use, etc. It is also worth noting that as we speak the UK seems to be reconsidering it’s ban of hormones in meat as part of Brexit with pressure from the US.
seanwilson 6y ago
Just throwing this out there, but going plant-based doesn't mean you have to eat meat alternatives if you're against them for some reason. Lots of stuff you eat right now is probably plant-based or easily convertible by substituting in regular vegetables e.g. curries, burritos, chilli, lasagne, pizza, sandwiches, pasta, stir fries, bean burgers, soups, stews, fries, cereals, cakes, breads etc. Could you really not enjoy a pasta dish without meat (think tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, basil, garlic, capers)? Is it the taste of chicken you really enjoy in a chicken curry or is it more about the spices and the textures? Ever notice you flavour almost every meat dish with lots of vegetable products and spices (e.g. people say chicken is tasteless without flavourings)? You can try the same flavourings on vegetables too without having to look for meat alternatives.
- frereubu 6y ago
  Agree with almost all of this - if you buy well-grown fresh vegetables, they're delicious all by themselves if you take time to learn how to cook them - but the same is true of something like chicken. If you get chicken where the chickens are well cared-for, well-fed and not pumped full of hormones it does actually taste delicious by itself. It reminds me of a food eureka moment a couple of decades ago when I was round for dinner with the family a friend who's a farmer. They served boiled potatoes that they'd dug up earlier that day and I suddenly remembered that potatoes could actually taste of something other than the oil / butter / salt that you cook them in or flavour them with. Edit: I presume part of the reason for "plant-based alternatives to meat" is that it's much more difficult to commoditise simple vegetables. I can think of plenty of plant-based alternatives to meat and they're... plants. Potatoes, carrots, aubergines, courgettes, cavolo nero, broccoli...
  - seanwilson 6y ago
    > If you get chicken where the chickens are well cared-for, well-fed and not pumped full of hormones it does actually taste delicious by itself. Yes, I was more thinking about when people get chicken nuggets or fast food burgers. The meat is probably only adding some texture and most of the taste is from the spices, so why does it need to have meat? I feel people demand meat on principle instead of really thinking about why they're eating something. Most of the time they're not eating meat for health reasons either, despite the usual arguments coming up like B12 and protein that can't be backed up.
lqet 6y ago
This may not be a popular opinion, but I simply do not understand why you need the massive environmental and economic overhead of creating such "alternative meat" products if you want to avoid eating animals. Plants are eatable and tasty without processing them into fake meat first.
- ajharrison 6y ago
  It’s because people today are adult-children who need kid gloves to be convinced that killing animals for food is bad. So we trick them by showing an beyond meat and hoping one day they stop eating meat.
- daveoc64 6y ago
  Most of these new products that you see advertised are not aimed at Vegetarians or Vegans, but are actually aimed at meat eaters. Tesco has a range of meat products (such as burgers and mince) that are actually a mixture of real meat and plant based meat. A lot of people know that meat has a high environmental footprint, and people are becoming aware of how poorly animals can be treated by factory farming. Those people are looking to reduce their meat consumption, and these products are a crutch to allow that to happen.
- rsynnott 6y ago
  Possibly a slight generalisation, but these would mostly be aimed at people who eat processed food anyway, not those who cook. That is, the market isn't current vegetarians/vegans; it's people who eat processed meat. That said, I'm not sure how bad the environmental overhead is. The main source of protein in these things is often either soya or peas. Soya is a bit of a tossup depending on where it's grown; it can be either very good or very bad (though probably still less bad than meat). Peas are generally pretty low overhead; in particular, they're nitrogen fixing (as are soybeans), so need less fertiliser.

> The UK’s largest supermarket will on Tuesday commit to boosting sales of meat alternatives by 300% within five years, by 2025. Over the past year, demand for chilled meat-free foods – the most popular line including burger, sausage and mince substitutes – has increased by almost 50%, the retailer said. When the sales of this vegan category is $1 today the target will be reached by $3. Ok could be sloppy reporting of the Guardian but also the press release of Tesco [0] doesn't mention amount of sales in a valuta. The Guardian almost did a one on one copy pasta here. Meat replacers are much more expensive sometimes with a markup of 300% compared to meat. When measuring the environment effects of meat replacer sales, committing to a weight goal would even be more transparent so the public knows how much damage is prevented by Tesco. [0] https://m.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/TESCO-PLC-4000540/news/Tesco-commits-to-300-sales-increase-in-meat-alternatives-31374847/ https://m.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/TESCO-PLC-4000540/n...

dageshi 6y ago

Given the frequency I see the meat alternatives in the discounted section in various supermarkets I've visited, I think they have some work on their hands.

nickff 6y ago
Yes, they have a lot of work on their hands. This is a classic Innovator's Dilemma, where an 'inferior' product technology/configuration/design starts off by taking over a niche, then gradually improves until it dominates the field.
giarc 6y ago
I've never seen any in store demo's for any of the various products. I'd definitely try it if I could, but don't want to spend $15 on a few patties for a product I've never tried.
mhh__ 6y ago
Whether they sell or not, meat alternatives should last longer, no? If they last longer that means they can afford to buy more to sell later
- Alupis 6y ago
  I don't think they last longer at all. They're heavily processed plant matter, not whole plants.
- tomp 6y ago
  The more processed the food is, the longer it lasts. So, "yes".
  - rsynnott 6y ago
    Not universally true. Notably, see bread. You can store grain or flour for quite a long time, but not bread :)

OneGuy123 6y ago

All of these plant based alternatives to meat are garbage filled with processed seed oils and additives. To belive you can "add a vitamin here and there" and that that makes it a real nutrititious food equivalent of meat is laughably bad scienece, but people for some reason don't seem to get that.

myvoiceismypass 6y ago
The more apt comparison for these types of items talked about in this article is to processed meat products. Do meat eaters eat fast food quality hamburgers on a daily basis for “real nutrition”?
- paulnechifor 6y ago
  It takes more "alchemy" to make vegetables look and taste like processed meat than it takes to turn meat into processed meat. Edit: Wow, vegan valley bros are so easily upset.
  - sthnblllII 6y ago
    It stuffs its face with neoliberal schemes or else it gets the downvote again. Just to add a bit more here, I would be ok with the massive marketing and media push from capital to sell dirt cheap less-nutritious processed foods as a substitute for real meat if the billionaires and such like were actually making tangible sacrifices to their own lifestyles. Obviously they are not, but they still think they can trick us into believing we can be morally superior by paying porterhouse prices for potato flower and xanthin gum.
    - rsynnott 6y ago
      > sell dirt cheap less-nutritious processed foods as a substitute for real meat In general, the primary market for processed vegan food is people who currently buy processed meat-based food. Supermarkets, of course, already sell vegetables and legumes.
- 6y ago

Neil44 6y ago

300% of very little is still not that much, but it's a good aim.

issa 6y ago

I've been vegan for 30 years so obviously I think it is about time. From an innovation/start-up perspective, this is an exciting time. If things continue moving this quickly, lab-grown meat will be regularly available soon. Whatever your personal feelings about animals, this is a huge win for the environment.

cmroanirgo 6y ago
For me, anything "lab grown" is definitely less preferable to naturally grown foods. So, even though I'm vegetarian, I would absolutely prefer to be eating meat than fake food, with unknown genetic and cellular anomalies. Just look at the chemical cocktail that's in any off- the- shelf "meat alternative" products. No way do I want that stuff in my body. If Tesco, or any big retailer was honest about increasing sustainability, they'd be focusing on how to decentralize warehousing and shipping, and a simple solution is to support local farming. Unfortunately, the world doesn't operate this way, and we're stuck with this need to purchase food from far flung parts of the world.
- issa 6y ago
  I don't think there is a single answer to improving how humans create and consume food. You're definitely right that transportation is a huge issue. So is waste, environmental damage from animal agriculture, etc. The closer we can get to Star Trek replicators, the better.
thefounder 6y ago
I think vegan/fake "meat" and lab-grown meat are/should be marketed as two different things, the later still being meat that happens to grown in a lab. I'm not sure why people would be interested to consume meat grown in a lab considering all the unknowns/risks.
- rsynnott 6y ago
  > I'm not sure why people would be interested to consume meat grown in a lab considering all the unknowns/risks. Which ones? In general, most food-borne illnesses are a result of either faecal contamination, diseased animals, or poor post-production handling. 'Lab-grown' meat should be generally free of the first two. Obviously nothing's perfect, but it should in general be much easier to avoid contamination than in a slaughterhouse.

vanilla-almond 6y ago

Here's an example of vegan, plant-based foods from another UK supermarket called Asda (their own-branded range). https://groceries.asda.com/cmslisting/content/event?N=1027374613 https://groceries.asda.com/cmslisting/content/event?N=102737... I have tried their 'Vegan Vegetable Fingers' and they are quite nice. However, I suspect many of these foods still count as 'processed foods'. Some consumers might mistakenly think they are healthy because they are plant-based (and the packaging will re-enforce that). Here are the ingredients for the 'Vegan Vegetable Fingers' - would you buy these based on these ingredients? Or would the ingredients put you off? - Vegetables (51%) [Carrots, Sweetcorn, Peas, Onions, Potatoes] - Fortified Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1)] - Water - Sunflower Oil - Potato Flakes, Maize Starch, Wheat Gluten - Salt, Sugar - Rye Flour, Yeast Extract - Pea Fibre - Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Yeast, White Pepper, Tomato Powder, Red Pepper Powder, Parsley, Flavouring, Sage, Black Pepper Extract, Sage Extract https://groceries.asda.com/product/nuggets-fingers/asda-plant-based-16-vegan-vegetable-fingers/910002378536 https://groceries.asda.com/product/nuggets-fingers/asda-plan...

alistairSH 6y ago
That list doesn't look terrible. I personally wouldn't eat it in place of meat (or at all) because of the wheat/gluten content. We do have some meat substitutes in the US that are gluten free (Impossible Burger) that tastes ok and has reasonable mouth-feel.
- chrisweekly 6y ago
  +1 for Impossible Burgers!
myth_drannon 6y ago
Yes, this ones is a healthy option comparing to for example Beyond Meat burger which is mostly different oils (Palm oil :( ) and pea protein and sodium - very tasty comparing to other brands but so unhealthy.
- tpmx 6y ago

02020202 6y ago

well, i guess it is time to short this stock :D

eplanit 6y ago

The Soylent Green generation has arrived. It's perfect that Tuesday is the day of the announcement. "The UK’s largest supermarket will on Tuesday commit to boosting sales of meat alternatives by 300% within five years, by 2025."

alltakendamned 6y ago

I imagine that by saying "plant-based meat alternatives" they don't mean beans. I eat vegetarian myself, and while on one side I'm happy there are more plant-based alternatives available, it does make me quite uncomfortable that many of these are hyper-processed industrial foods. Food being plant-based or natural does not automatically make it more healthy.

rat9988 6y ago
The goal is to improve animals living conditions. At least for me, that is.
voisin 6y ago
No idea why you are being downvoted. This is dead on. Oreos are vegan, but it doesn’t make them healthy. I think the terms Vegetarian and Vegan are extremely misleading as most people assume that means healthy. I prefer “Whole Food, Plant Based” which would be hard to eat in an unhealthy manner.

dreen 6y ago

Having moved from middle of European continent into UK I have to say it is VERY easy to be a vegetarian or vegan here due to large variety and availability of substitutes. Previously most people I've met didn't really know what it meant to be one, they usually mistook it for pescetarianism (due to Catholic beliefs), and most vegetarians were hippies. Here it's not unusual for people not to eat meat, on no other grounds that they simply don't like it and never did.

user5994461 6y ago

I have yet to see a vegan substitute in Tesco/Sainsbury that's cheaper than the meat it's supposed to compare to. Found a few products that were nice but at £10-20 a kg it's not food it's a curiosity.

lm28469 6y ago

I've tried all the "plant-based alternatives to meat" I could find and they were either passable or almost vomit-inducing, the best ones barely taste as good as the cheapest meat I could get my hands on (frozen supermarket brand burger patties). I'll stick to halloumi burgers and salads/veggies, especially with the dubious nutritional qualities, origin of the raw ingredients and price of these things.

mrwh 6y ago

For some more UK context, Gregg's (a cheap baker on most British high streets) started offering a vegan version of their sausage roll and it was a GIANT success: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200202-how-did-the-vegan-sausage-roll-get-so-popular https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200202-how-did-the-ve...

smeeth 6y ago

Reading the handwringing over health in the comments it's pretty obvious some people have absolutely no idea what they're actually eating when they consume meat products. Oh no! Processed seed oils! Give me a fucking break, we pump cows so full of hormones 8 year old girls are getting their periods [0]. Let's have some moral and factual clarity around the issue here, Vegetarians and Vegans are about the last people to argue processed foods are good, but we should keep our eyes on the prize: modern meat farming is awful for everyone involved. If you don't like it then don't eat it. [0] https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2016/06/22/precocious-puberty-girls-increasing-and-alarming#:~:text=Meat%2C%20Especially%20Hormone%2DRaised%20Meat,an%20early%20start%20of%20menstruation https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2016/06/22/precoci....

YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
>> Give me a fucking break, we pump cows so full of hormones 8 year old girls are getting their periods [0]. Who is "we"? The EU has banned the use of hormones in farm animals for growth promotion since 1981 and for most other uses in subsequent years: In 1981, with Directive 81/602/EEC, the EU prohibited the use of substances having a hormonal action for growth promotion in farm animals. Examples for these kind of growth promoters are oestradiol 17ß, testosterone, progesterone, zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengestrol acetate (MGA). https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/chemical_safety/meat_hormones_en https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/chemical_safety/meat_hormon... Note also (same link): The United States and Canada contested the prohibition of the use of hormones as growth promoters in food producing animals, and in 1997 a panel of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled that the EU measure was not in line with the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). Eventually the EU was forced to accept importation of meat from animals treated with hormones. In any case, there's no "we". Some countries do what you say, but not all.
- smeeth 6y ago
  I seem to be guilty of America-centrism again, my apologies. I should clarify that my point has less to do with hormones specifically and more about how this comment section is applying a double standard of healthiness to meat alternatives generally. When it comes to industrial meat production if it ain’t one thing it’s another: feed quality/chemicals, handling/sale of diseased meat, animal waste on food, antibiotic use, etc. It is also worth noting that as we speak the UK seems to be reconsidering it’s ban of hormones in meat as part of Brexit with pressure from the US.

seanwilson 6y ago

Just throwing this out there, but going plant-based doesn't mean you have to eat meat alternatives if you're against them for some reason. Lots of stuff you eat right now is probably plant-based or easily convertible by substituting in regular vegetables e.g. curries, burritos, chilli, lasagne, pizza, sandwiches, pasta, stir fries, bean burgers, soups, stews, fries, cereals, cakes, breads etc. Could you really not enjoy a pasta dish without meat (think tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, basil, garlic, capers)? Is it the taste of chicken you really enjoy in a chicken curry or is it more about the spices and the textures? Ever notice you flavour almost every meat dish with lots of vegetable products and spices (e.g. people say chicken is tasteless without flavourings)? You can try the same flavourings on vegetables too without having to look for meat alternatives.

frereubu 6y ago
Agree with almost all of this - if you buy well-grown fresh vegetables, they're delicious all by themselves if you take time to learn how to cook them - but the same is true of something like chicken. If you get chicken where the chickens are well cared-for, well-fed and not pumped full of hormones it does actually taste delicious by itself. It reminds me of a food eureka moment a couple of decades ago when I was round for dinner with the family a friend who's a farmer. They served boiled potatoes that they'd dug up earlier that day and I suddenly remembered that potatoes could actually taste of something other than the oil / butter / salt that you cook them in or flavour them with. Edit: I presume part of the reason for "plant-based alternatives to meat" is that it's much more difficult to commoditise simple vegetables. I can think of plenty of plant-based alternatives to meat and they're... plants. Potatoes, carrots, aubergines, courgettes, cavolo nero, broccoli...
- seanwilson 6y ago
  > If you get chicken where the chickens are well cared-for, well-fed and not pumped full of hormones it does actually taste delicious by itself. Yes, I was more thinking about when people get chicken nuggets or fast food burgers. The meat is probably only adding some texture and most of the taste is from the spices, so why does it need to have meat? I feel people demand meat on principle instead of really thinking about why they're eating something. Most of the time they're not eating meat for health reasons either, despite the usual arguments coming up like B12 and protein that can't be backed up.

lqet 6y ago

This may not be a popular opinion, but I simply do not understand why you need the massive environmental and economic overhead of creating such "alternative meat" products if you want to avoid eating animals. Plants are eatable and tasty without processing them into fake meat first.

ajharrison 6y ago
It’s because people today are adult-children who need kid gloves to be convinced that killing animals for food is bad. So we trick them by showing an beyond meat and hoping one day they stop eating meat.
daveoc64 6y ago
Most of these new products that you see advertised are not aimed at Vegetarians or Vegans, but are actually aimed at meat eaters. Tesco has a range of meat products (such as burgers and mince) that are actually a mixture of real meat and plant based meat. A lot of people know that meat has a high environmental footprint, and people are becoming aware of how poorly animals can be treated by factory farming. Those people are looking to reduce their meat consumption, and these products are a crutch to allow that to happen.
rsynnott 6y ago
Possibly a slight generalisation, but these would mostly be aimed at people who eat processed food anyway, not those who cook. That is, the market isn't current vegetarians/vegans; it's people who eat processed meat. That said, I'm not sure how bad the environmental overhead is. The main source of protein in these things is often either soya or peas. Soya is a bit of a tossup depending on where it's grown; it can be either very good or very bad (though probably still less bad than meat). Peas are generally pretty low overhead; in particular, they're nitrogen fixing (as are soybeans), so need less fertiliser.