Nutripro - Make It Sizzle - What’s cooking? Surprise, it’s not meat!

While people have been using grain to make the center of plate since the Chinese invented soy-based tofu in 200BC², products that capture the taste and texture of meat and poultry are more recent cooking innovations.

These advances come as many consumers are looking for ways to reduce their meat consumption. Whether they’re changing their eating habits out of concern for their health, the environment, animal welfare, or other reasons, people are actively looking for options when they’re dining out. The trend began in fast food, but these products are becoming widely accepted in different channels around the world, creating an exciting opportunity for today’s food service operators to expand their offerings and attract new customers. 

History of Meat Alternatives²

People have been using grain to make the center of plate for a long time, but the products that recreate the look, taste, and texture of beef or chicken so closely are more recent cooking innovations.

•           200 BC. Soy-based tofu is invented in China by the Han dynasty.

•           535 AD. Use of wheat gluten as protein is recorded in a Chinese agricultural encyclopedia.

•           1800. Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans in Indonesia.

•           1877. John Harvey Kellogg develops meat replacements from nuts, grains, and soy to feed patients in his vegetarian sanitarium in the US.

•           1902. Dietitian Sarah Tyson Rorer publishes Mrs. Rorer's Vegetable Cookery and Meat Substitutes in the US.

•           1962. Marushima Shoyu K.K sells wheat gluten as “seitan” in Japan. It is imported to the US seven years later.

•           1985. Soy schnitzel is created in Israel and mushroom-based meat alternatives in the UK.

•           2015. Realistic raw-to- cooked beef alternatives become mainstream in consumer and quick service restaurant markets.

References:

¹. Eat Lancet, 2019

². soyinfocenter.com