Beyond Meat or Beyond Reality: Does the new vegan obsession deliver on its promises?

The Los Angeles-based company expects to exceed its revenue target of $240 million by the end of 2019

The Beyond Burger. Photo, Beyond Meat..

By: Hilem & Zara (Audio journalist/editor), Anouck & Nandika (video journalists/editor), Mercia (article writer), and Hafsa (producer)

Beyond Meat products are becoming increasingly popular in Canada.

Whether it is at  grocery stores or at fast-food chains, these plant-based products seem to be everywhere and the company is pushing hard to find its niche in the Canadian market. According to its website, Beyond Meat products are ethically sourced and therefore, help sustain the planet by fighting climate change.

On Twitter, people are getting excited to have a new alternative for meat.

The company also claims that its products taste like meat but are healthier than animal-based products. The Canadian new food guide is encouraging people to steer away from red meat and include more plant-based protein products in their diet. So it is no wonder that Beyond Meat is appealing to Canadians.

However, not everyone believes Beyond Meat products are as healthy as they claim.

According Tracie Sindrey, a nutrition professor at Humber College and Diabetes educator, the burgers seem to be less healthy, as they are made with processed ingredients rather than whole foods. “Much of the thinking behind the product is not health but rather the look and texture of the food.”

Also a quick comparison between the nutritional value of a Beyond Meat patty and a regular ground beef patty show that there is not much difference between the two.

Nutrition facts for Beef Patty // Nutritionix.com

 

Nutrition facts // Beyond Meat

However, at 20 grams per patty, the faux meat product falls short of Beyond Meat’s claim that it provides more protein than a regular meat patty, which offers 28 grams.

Sarah Tahir, who lives a healthy lifestyle, talks about the health factors of brands like Beyond Meat.

Consumers also have to dig deeper in their pockets if they want to make the switch from animal based to plant-based protein. Beyond Meat burgers cost around $8.49 for two servings whereas a pack of eight beef burger servings cost about $10.

Sindrey suggests looking for legumes as sources of protein to those who want to follow a vegan diet.

That can be confirmed by a Seneca student, Ann-Sophie Van Baeveghem. She tried to be a vegan for a while, but switched to vegetarianism.

So for those of you who are thinking of switching to a plant-based diet, eating vegan doesn’t necessarily mean eating healthy.

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