What do you know about 'vegetarian' meat?

Thanks to the advances in science and technology, food technology has produced 'vegetable', 'cultured' and 'synthetic' meats , while addressing the soaring meat demand in parallel with the population boom. number, has just created 'non-killing' meats for vegetarians.

Roll up the 'vegetarian' meat dishes

'Fake salt' vegetarian meat

A dish for many new vegans and refugees in the Buddhist temple with the purpose of having a habit to gradually become a mainstream vegetarian.

These 'fake' vegetarian meat dishes are actually true vegetarian foods, but are skillfully processed to have a completely salty form and name such as: shredded chicken, spring rolls, silk rolls, rice noodles, rice noodles, fried eggs . but the nutrients are completely different from the name.

As the share of vegetarian food has grown, many food processing facilities have produced 'industry' for a myriad of 'fake' salty vegetarian dishes, using a variety of chemical additives to create flavors and colors. , hardness, porous . so difficult to ensure safety.

'Plant-based meat'

From plant protein sources, many food processors have developed genuine 'plant-based meat' or 'vegetarian' meat.

Unlike salty 'fake' vegetarian food, vegetable meat has the same chemical composition as the meat, except that amino acids, the structural units of protein, are completely extracted from fruit trees.

According to Dr. Joel Gilmore, a science communicator in Brisbane, reproducing 'plant' meat is complex and a real challenge. The protein structure 'mimics' the same as beef, which is recreated in reverse by using proteins, fats, amino acids and plant source vitamins. The bundles of protein fibers, crushed, pressed and spun like animal meat fibers and 'vegetarian' meat pieces are formed in the required size. 'Vegetarian' meat producers only use 'natural' food additives to color, flavor, taste, etc., respectively. For example: combine mushrooms with pumpkin seeds . to create the flavor and texture of chocolate, combine sake with soy to make burgers flavor .

Currently, in Europe and America, many 'vegetarian' meat dishes have been witnessed. The US Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has allowed Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods . to market many types of sausages, hamburgers, and "completely vegetarian".

Cell-cultured meat

Cell-cultured meat, in-vitro meat, lab-grown meat, synthetic meat, is an artificial meat produced by culture muscle cells in a nutritive serum solution and grow into flesh-like pieces of animal muscle. In a similar way, scientists can also create animal products such as artificial milk or non-egg whites by raising genetically engineered yeasts to produce soy proteins. The reaction is then extracted and mixed with the correct content in real milk or eggs.

The process of creating meat cultured cells.

With this advanced "cell agriculture," scientists have the basis to hope that different types of artificial meats can be created that are good for health, disease and even create the meat of rare, extinct animals to enjoy 'telling' how it tastes.

* Meat synthesized from the solein air

Solein is a wheat-like food, but very high in protein.

Using carbon-capture technology , Solar Foods, Finland, extracts carbon dioxide from the air, then combines it with water, nutrients and vitamins, with 100% solar energy. to promote the natural fermentation process to create a new protein-rich food: solein .

Solein will debut in 2021 in a variety of market foods.

Solein is a wheat-like food, but very high in protein, the content of three main nutritional groups: 50% protein, 5 - 10% fat and 20-25% carbohydrate (carbs) . As expected by Solar foods, solein will debut for the first time in 2021 in a variety of market foods.

Meat 'vegetarian' is very good

Except for the 'pseudo-salty' vegetarian meat, the 'vegetarian', 'non-animal' meats such as vegetable meat, cultured meat, and synthetic meats are those that are scientifically, nutritionally, and currently Great.

Produced with advanced scientific technology, vegetarian meats are actively processed to have high nutritional value, suitable and better for humans: (1) Can be added ((fortifying) nutrients (amino acids, vitamins, minerals) that are lacking in plant-eating sources such as lysine, methionine, tryptophan, vitatmin B12, vitamin D .; (2) Eliminate dangerous components in animal meat , such as fat, cholesterol .; (3) Because these vegetarian meats are cultured or synthesized in aseptic environment, they are not contaminated with antibiotics, weight gainers, and pesticides as in animal meat.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, meat demand is growing rapidly, by 2050, when the world's population exceeds 9 billion, meat demand is expected to increase by more than 70% of the current level. Humans have used most of the agricultural land to raise animals; and the demand for water also increases in proportion to raising animals, to produce a 150-gram hamburger requires nearly six blocks of water. Therefore, it is difficult to increase meat production to 70% through animal husbandry. We must either reduce our meat consumption, or find a more efficient way to produce it. and cultured and synthetic meat is the future.

The scientists also calculated that cultured meat production will use 99% less land and 96% less water. According to scientists from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, cells from a cow can produce 175 million pounds of meat, while at the same production, traditional breeding methods will require 440,000 cows. With such high efficiency, cultured meat is a remedy, to end and provide enough meat for human beings in the future.

Something to discuss

'Fake' meat is not the true meat. High monks believe that eating salty vegetarian dishes is contrary to the 'self-cultivation' philosophy . Venerable Thich Nhat Tu, Ho Chi Minh City Buddhist Association said that: Being a vegetarian, the germ of killing is still quietly catalyzed, watered and nurtured like eating real animals.

In addition to the meaning of 'vegetarian', 'not killing', vegetable meat, cultured meat, and synthetic also contribute greatly to protecting the environment:

(1) United Nations Environment Program (UN Enviromental Program), International Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Union of Concerned Scientists, all consider the use of 'vegetable' meat. contributing to reducing stress on ecology such as reducing energy consumption, reducing greenhouse gas emissions . Professor Patrick Brown, Stanford University, said: 'We believe that' vegetable 'meats will play a part important role in addressing one of the planet's most pressing challenges: cultivating an ever-growing global population while the world's precious resources dwindling. ';

(2) According to UN experts, traditional animal husbandry costs a lot of resources, land, water, coal fuel, and fossils, which will deplete environmental resources. school. Traditional livestock production also causes a lot of greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. Therefore, WHO believes that the implementation of the 'cell agriculture' , artificially grown meat, will have a very positive and tremendous impact to improve the human environment on the already fragile earth. severe infection.

"Cellular agriculture" also helps develop a variety of artificial meats suitable for health conditions, diseases and even produces the meat of rare, extinct animals to enjoy 'said'. how does it taste.

Despite being welcomed by animal rights groups: avoiding slaughtering, slaughtering livestock, etc., some vegetarians, especially the absolute vegetarian group, still oppose it as a meat developed from farming. Transplanting muscle muscles should invisible medium using meat dishes with synthetic culture is also eating animal meat, is killing.

Instead of the conclusion

Vegetarian meat is also a clean meat.

Vegetable meat, cultured meat and synthetic meat are exactly the kinds of meat in the sense of science and nutrition. These are 'genuine' vegetarian meat, clean, 'intellectual' food technology 3.0, and promise to be the 'future' meats of humans.

Vegetarian meat is also a clean meat (true meat): nutritious, safe, better than animal meat, can be used for both vegetarians and vegetarians . And it is clean meat, meat 'present. Dai ', we should use it safely and don't care much what the name is and where it comes from.

Dr.BS Tran Ba ​​Thoai

Member of Executive Board of Vietnam Endocrinology Association