Are vegan meat alternatives putting our health on the line?

Veganism is typically equated with steadfast eating, but today’s factory-produced fake bacon, sausages and burgers could beryllium tarnishing the halo of a plant-based diet. New Scientist investigates

Technology 27 October 2021

By Helen Thomson

Kyle Bean

DONALD Watson was calved successful Yorkshire and spent overmuch of his younker connected his uncle’s farm. But alternatively than making him consciousness astatine easiness with breeding animals for food, the realisation that these “friendly creatures” went for slaughter horrified him. He became a vegetarian successful 1924, aged 14. Two decades later, with his woman and 4 friends, helium coined the connection vegan from the archetypal and past parts of the connection vegetarian, and founded the UK Vegan Society.

Watson’s fare was filled mostly with nuts, apples, dried fruit, vegetables and, erstwhile wartime rations allowed it, lentils. Fast-forward to today, and Watson would person been astonished astatine the wealthiness of vegan-friendly offerings. Browse the aisles of supermarkets successful the UK, US, Australia and beyond and you volition find a increasing magnitude of abstraction dedicated to vegan fish and nutrient alternatives. But portion Watson’s fare turned retired to beryllium a steadfast one, a antithetic representation is emerging for immoderate of today’s vegans.

Take a look astatine the ingredients successful the ever-increasing assortment of products and they tin look much similar junk, packed afloat of brackish and ingredients specified arsenic “soya macromolecule concentrate” that you wouldn’t find successful a chunk of meat.

While today’s factory-produced foods marque it casual to power to a vegan fare without the request to marque drastic changes to eating patterns, these alternatives mightiness beryllium worse for our wellness than the nutrient versions they are replacing. Finding retired is progressively important, owed to the increasing fig of radical avoiding nutrient and dairy successful their diet. So what bash we – and don’t we – know?

When Watson applied for vegan …