Plant-based Burgers

🍔🍔🍔Yummy ! The only word that comes to our mind when we think of food.

Plant-based burgers are the new food that Canadian favourite Tim Hortons started selling off on their menu in 2019. Plant-based burgers are vegan burger options but with the aromas and taste of a meat burger.

What makes the burger taste like meat?

Meat flavours are produced when fat and muscle cells release small molecules and further breakdown of these molecules into amino acids, fatty acids and sugar occur when the animal is slaughtered. Furthermore, myoglobin denatures when meat is cooked and releases heme which produces the “meat” taste.

In plants, a protein called leghemoglobin, is found in roots and can also be produced through genetic engineering. Leghemoglobin tastes similar to meat and give the plant-based burger its flavours and taste.

Is it good for health?

Plant-based burger are superfoods that are genetically modified. The proteins and yeast involved in these processes could possibly cause a severe allergic reaction. The synthetic ingredients might be a risk to health because our body isn’t adapted to consuming all those modified ingredients. But these might just be some myths because yogurt is a highly processed food and not too many incidents have been reported upon consuming GMO foods.

Why care about their production?

The meat industry heavily effects the environment because vast majority of resources such as food and water are consumed whereas plant-based burger reduces these amount significantly. But a critical view examines that the use of pesticides, fertilizers and chemicals endanger the environment too !

It is worth pondering upon whether the production of these GMO foods propels a sustainable or a harmful environment !