Alternative proteins

Raising 70.1 billion land animals, and fishing 96 million tonnes of marine animals for food is not sustainable. Luckily there is a plethora of clean protein alternatives available.

Cultured meat

Clean, cultured or in vitro cell-based meat is a groundbreaking development that is set to shift the global food system in a more sustainable direction. Cultured meat describes real meat that is grown directly from cells, eliminating the need to slaughter animals all together. The first cultured meat burger patty was produced in 2013 and there has been substantial investment in the technology since.

 

Cultured meat benefits the planet in a variety of ways, reducing the need for farmland and providing opportunity for pastures to be rewilded and returned to nature. This minimises agriculture's demand for precious and finite water, reduces greenhouse gas emissions emitted during the production of food, and lessen land run-off that impacts our oceans. Studies have found that the production of cell-based meat uses up to 99% less land and produces between 78-96% less greenhouse gas emissions.

How is it made?

Cultured meat is created by mimicking the biological process of cell growth that happens inside an animal, which enables us to create these foods directly from animal cells. It is created by taking a small sample of stem cells through a harmless procedure, in a similar way to how blood is drawn, and replicating those cells in a culture outside of an animal's body. After enough cells have grown, they are assembled in groups to create small muscle tissue, akin to the muscle fibres in steak.

The result is clean meat with identical components of conventional meat on a cellular level, but without pathogens or faecal contaminants, whilst produced with a lower environmental footprint to conventional meat. Genetic modification is not required for cultured meat. The cultivation of meat at scale, looks much like a brewery, with meat grown in large steel cultivator tanks.

Products of precision fermentation

Fermentation is a dynamic biological process utilising microorganisms to produce or enhance alternative protein products. Precision fermentation is a technology that has been used for decades in the production of rennet for cheese and vitamins such as B12 for nutritional supplements.

 

In recent years innovative food companies have been using precision fermentation to create animal foods without the ongoing need for animals. This process can efficiently produce practical ingredients such as animal proteins and fats that add flavour and nutrition to plant-based meats, or to create dairy products like cheese.

 

How does it work?

To grow these functional ingredients precision fermentation utilises microorganisms, like yeast. The genetic code from an animal is introduced to the microorganism, which is then fermented to produce the final product.

Traditional alternatives

Traditional protein alternatives are certainly not a new development in the food system, they have been around for millennia and have an ancient heritage. While the use of these have historically tended to have religious or spiritual origins, contemporary consumption rates of plant-based alternatives have grown in response to increasing concerns for animal welfare in modern production systems or personal health.

Traditional alternatives are generally created with mostly whole food ingredients like vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Traditional alternatives include foods that have long been considered alternatives to meat, such as tofu, tempeh and falafel, and are made primarily of one ingredient. They are not intended to replicate meat, rather provide a plant-based alternative, and differ from the “new generation” of plant-based products that are designed to have an appearance, flavour or texture comparable to conventional animal-based products. While consumers of the first generation of plant-based products may not desire the taste of animal products, these emerging products serve increasingly conscious consumers who may continue to do so. As such, they offer conscious consumers who may have concerns about the animal welfare or environmental impacts of animal production with alternatives that don’t sacrifice taste.

 

Plant-based meats

Though plant-based substitutes for animal products have been progressively developed since the early 1960s, recent scientific advances have enabled an understanding of how the “building blocks of meat” interact at a molecular level to form the flavour and texture associated with animal flesh. These techniques allowed producers to use botanical ingredients to develop a “new generation” of plant-based meat alternatives that closely resemble the aesthetics of conventional animal products. These may be indistinguishable from their equivalents and closely approximate the appearance, taste, function and aroma of their animal-based equivalents.

Are they suitable and healthy alternatives to animal meat?

Decades of continual growth in worldwide meat consumption rates continue to shape the international political economy of food. It is widely understood and accepted that the consumption of meat or other animal products, particularly in developed nations such as Australia, exceeds basic biological requirements. Though humans have considered animal products, particularly meat, to be an essential part of their diets, vegetarian and vegan diets have been practised for centuries and the health benefits of plant-based diets have been well addressed and acknowledged.

  • In general, plant-based meats are manufactured using proteins sourced from plants , primarily wheat, soybean, legumes and fungi. Additives are used in foods to ensure safety and meet consumer needs. For example, they may be used to improve the taste or appearance of processed food, to improve the stability or to extend storage life. Many additives are naturally occurring organic substances, such as citrus fruits or colour extracts. Evidence suggests that the human body cannot distinguish between a naturally occurring chemical in a food and the same chemical incorporated as an additive.

    ​​​​While animal products are a source of nutrients, protein, iron and vitamins, these are also available in plant-based foods. Plant-based meats generally have lower or comparable kilojoules and sodium, higher or comparable protein levels, and lower fat and saturated fat contents than their conventional animal-based equivalents. Similarly, surveys comparing plant-based meats with conventional animal products have found that the total calorie, fat and protein contents are similar.

  • While food additives are used in many plant-based products for a range of purposes, these are generally shared by many other foods, including meat. For example, meat products are regularly enhanced by incorporating a range of additives. While consumer demand for natural additives has seen many of these replace synthetic additives, several continue to be used to “avoid the appearance of unpleasant odours and flavours”. Sulphites, for example, are used to inhibit the growth of microorganisms while simultaneously retaining the desired colour of red meat products. Other additives known as “binders” are used to maintain uniform consistencies. Phosphates are also used to promote protein dispersion in meat products and stabilise desired colours. Though the primary purpose of additives in plant-based meats differ to those in animal meat production, they relate primarily to flavour, colour and preservation. 

    Ultimately, the additives used in plant-based products are reviewed, approved and regulated and do not contain many of the potentially harmful additives that may be used in animal-based products that have been classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organisation. In addition, it is noteworthy that the nutritional components of animal products are influenced by what they are fed, including hormone growth promotants. Currently, there is no explicit requirement that these be detailed on labels, though some supermarket chains.

 

Wholefood plant-based meats

There are a variety of fruits and vegetables that possess tastes and textures characteristics akin to that of meat, making them a simple alternative to animal-based proteins. The popularity of these wholefood mimics is increasing due to their affordability and meaty characteristics. Jackfruit is commonly used as an alternative for pulled pork, and banana blossom is becoming an increasingly popular plant-based alternative to fish.