vegan
Latest
Plant-based 'whole' eggs could be served in US restaurants this year
Yo! Egg claims it has developed the first plant-based poached and sunny-side-up eggs.
The McPlant tastes just like any McDonald's burger
Almost a year later, McDonald’s first plant-based burger (ignoring the veggie “burgers” that have come before it) goes on limited sale in the US.
IKEA’s new vegetarian meatballs will taste more like meat
A trip to IKEA isn't complete without a plate of Swedish meatballs. While the company offers a vegetarian version of its iconic meal, the veggie meatballs don't taste much like meat. Joining the trend set by fast food chains like Burger King and KFC, the furniture giant plans to offer an updated vegetarian option of its meatballs that taste closer to traditional meat. According to the company's 2019 climate report, the new version of the food will be available starting this August.
Pizza Hut is testing pies with plant-based 'Incogmeato' sausage
Now that KFC has generated a frenzy over plant-based meat substitutes, it's the turn of sibling brands to generate some buzz. Pizza Hut has revealed that it's conducting a Phoenix test of a new Garden Specialty Pizza with Morning Farms' Incogmeato (yes, really) Italian "sausage" as a topping. On top of that, the pies will be served in unique Zume-made round boxes. They're not just for show. The circular shape uses less overall packaging than a square box, keeps the pizza hotter and is industrially compostable. In other words, you can feel better about the pizza's environmental impact well after you've finished the last bite.
KFC's plant-based 'chicken' sold out in five hours
There's little doubt that plant-based meat substitutes have been popular, but when's the last time they triggered the kind of frenzies associated with movie aficionados and sneaker hypebeasts? Today, apparently. Beyond Meat and KFC have revealed that their Beyond Fried Chicken test in Atlanta sold out in less than five hours on August 27th, with lines "wrapped around the restaurant" from the moment the store opened. Restaurants only have so much food to go around in general, but this was apparently no mean feat -- KFC sold as much of the meatless 'chicken' as it typically sells popcorn chicken in a week.
KFC is testing Beyond Meat 'chicken' in an Atlanta restaurant
Plant-based meat substitutes may soon be an option for fast food chicken. CNBC reports that KFC will start testing Beyond Fried Chicken at an Atlanta restaurant on August 27th. Yes, you could grab a bucket of chicken without feeling quite so guilty -- or greasy, if Beyond Meat's earlier work is any indication. Whether or not availability grows will depend on feedback, but other restaurant chains (such as Del Taco) have seen upticks in demand since adding meat substitutes.
This pea-based chicken alternative was inspired by hagfish slime
Another company wants to get in on the animal-free meat trend. The Swiss company Planted hopes to do for chicken what Impossible Foods did for beef. It claims its planted.chicken -- made from pea protein, pea fiber, water and sunflower oil -- is indistinguishable from the real thing, and as a meat alternative, it avoids some of the ethical and environmental concerns that come with raising poultry.
Beyond Meat answers Impossible Foods with 'meatier' plant patties
Beyond Meat isn't going to sit by the wayside while Impossible creates juicier versions of its plant-based burgers. The company is rolling out a "meatier" version of the Beyond Burger to grocery stores across the US. The mix of mung bean, pea and rice proteins is supposed to have a more meat-like, "neutral" flavor and texture, complete with marbling (through cocoa butter and coconut oil) that even behaves like fat. You'll also get a more "complete" selection of proteins through the mix of mung bean, pea and rice. And if appearance matters, apple extract changes the color from red to brown during cooking.
Nestle claims its plant-based Awesome Burger is healthier than rivals
Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are about to have some major competition. Nestle's Sweet Earth is prepping the Awesome Burger, another take on plant-based hamburgers. The veggie mix (which includes yellow peas and wheat) should have largely realistic juiciness and taste, but promises to be healthier in some respects than its rivals. It'll have six grams of fiber versus the three you typically find in Beyond and Impossible patties, for example. You can also expect more more protein than a meat burger (28g versus a typical 20g), no saturated fat and lots of iron and Vitamin C.
Impossible launches sausage pizza with Little Caesars
Little Caesars, the nationwide pizza chain, will be the first restaurant to sell Impossible's new plant-based sausage product -- as a pie topping. Starting today, the Impossible Supreme Pizza will launch at Little Caesars branches in Yakima, WA, Ft. Myers and Naples, FL and Albuquerque, NM for $12. The Detroit-based chain will sell a spicy-sweet version of the sausage.
Impossible Foods' next product is sausage
After three years of selling convincing plant-based burgers, Impossible Foods is on the verge of releasing its next product: sausage. We first learned about and tried the product during a trip to Impossible's headquarters in Redwood City, CA -- which you can read about here. In the test kitchen, Impossible cooked up a sausage patty for a breakfast sandwich and folded the ground meat into steamed siu mai, showing its versatility. The sausage is one of many new foods the company has been testing the waters for -- including eggs and steak -- as it bills itself as a "platform" for creating custom proteins rather than a vegan burger manufacturer.
Meat-free 'Beyond Burger' hits UK restaurants and supermarkets
The Beyond Burger -- a meatless alternative that oozes beetroot-red "blood" -- has overcome supply shortages to land on UK supermarket shelves. Leading retailer Tescos is stocking the product at £5.50 for a pack of two and you can also order it at the Honest Burger restaurant chain and All Bar One pubs, according to The Guardian.
Yomee turns dissolvable culture pods into fresh yogurt
Yogurt is at its best when it's freshly made and additive-free, which is why the more health-conscious folks prefer making this tasty snack at home instead of buying it. But yogurt-making is a messy job: you have to first heat the milk up to at least 161°F or 72°C for pasteurization separately, as pretty much all yogurt makers can't reach that temperature; and you also have to measure how much bacterial culture to put in. This is where Food-X-backed Hong Kong startup Lecker Labs comes in. Its first product, Yomee, is a machine that takes care of the entire yogurt-making process, covering high-temperature heating (reaching 185°F or 85°C), stirring, culture loading, fermentation and chilling (down to 50°F or 10°C). When ready, simply pop the cup out and enjoy.
The 'Beyond Burger' probably won't make you give up beef
Meat alternatives are becoming a holy grail for food producers -- not just to tap the growing vegetarian and vegan market, but also because animal farming is resource intensive. Even so, people who would prefer something that hews close to the taste, texture and smell of meat don't have a lot of options. The Impossible Burger, which uses plant proteins to create a "meaty" patty, remains exclusive to only four restaurants in New York and California. However, Beyond Meat is taking its own plant-based protein straight to your home, with a burger you can buy in supermarkets.
The Impossible Burger is a lab-made meatless treat for carnivores
Every October, two vegetarian friends of mine from Michigan spend a week at my place while they attend New York Comic Con. Because I take my hosting duties very seriously, I always try to find good places for them to eat here in New York. It's not too hard, as you can find vegetarian and vegan restaurants for pretty much every major cuisine here. But one thing that I haven't been able to locate is a good meat substitute. That changed last week when a restaurant here in the city became the first and (so far) only location to offer the Impossible Burger, a lab-developed patty that claims to replicate the taste and texture of real beef using the similar proteins found in plants. I dropped by for lunch to test this assertion -- and to scope it out for my friends, of course.
Google reportedly tried to buy a veggie burger company
Google has explored at least a few fields that have precious little to do with internet searches, but sources for The Information claim that it nearly went in a very unusual direction: the fast food business. The folks in Mountain View reportedly tried to buy Impossible Foods, a startup developing plant-based alternatives to meat and cheese, for between $200 million to $300 million. The young firm's crowning achievement so far is a veggie cheeseburger (you're looking at it above) that should taste like the real deal when it arrives later this year. If the rumor is accurate, Google only balked because Impossible wanted a higher sale price.
Lab-grown 'real' cheese made without milk
Real vegan cheese. An oxymoron, but maybe not for long. A group of biohackers, which is a thing now, reckon they can make cheese without milk. Better still, it apparently tastes like proper, legitimate cheese, and not some vegan-friendly substitute mess. The SF-based iGEM group say it's made from baker's yeast. The team is able to make cheese proteins using genetic sequences found in mammals, inserting the DNA blueprints into the aforementioned yeast, and it's all vegan-compatible because it doesn't need animal products to make the proteins.
Essential iPhone apps for vegans
Whether you've always been a vegan, or are new to veganism, there are times when eating can be a challenge. Sure, you can plan your meals out and substitute this for that in a meal or recipe, but life happens, so here are the essential iPhone apps for vegans dealing with life happening. When you don't want to be "that person" Rather than staring at the menu, and burning a hole through it in the process, or asking the waiter what things can be removed or substituted, you could come into a restaurant fully prepared knowing what is or isn't vegan. This is what VeganXpress (USD $1.99) does. The app has a list of popular restaurants and marries to it the vegan choices and substitutes available. For example, the app shows that the Fresco Bean Burrito (my personal fast food favorite) at Taco Bell, while the Seven Layer Burrito can be veganized sans cream and cheese. In addition, the app provides an extensive listing of popular food items, beer and wine that fit the vegan bill. With it, I was able to comfortably buy a bag of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos, Hot Tamales and a couple of bottles of Chimay. When you don't want to worry about being "that person" But there's no need for fakin' a vegan meal when you can "facon" it instead (I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself), and this is what VegOut (USD $2.99) does. Powered by happycow.net, a popular restaurant guide amongst vegans, VegOut uses your iPhone's current location and gives you a list of vegan, vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants nearby along with user ratings. Alternatively, you can search for a restaurant, say "Italian" or "Thai," and the app will return a list of restaurants nearby, from which you can get driving directions to via the Google maps app.
Sega receives vegan, monkey-shaped chocolates from PETA
Look, we don't condone the unethical treatment of any creature forced to endure the repetitive waggling that's characteristic of rushed, rehashed Wiimakes. It's disgusting -- about as disgusting as little vegan chocolates in the shape of monkeys!So when PETA says it's grateful to Sega for pulling the Samba De Amigo promos featuring a real chimp from its site (not that the ads aren't still on YouTube ... and embedded after the break) and sends the publisher a gift basket full of fake chocolates, we have to wonder if the effort isn't more trick than treat. After all, the damage is done. And, according to PETA, soon after defeating the down-and-out, middle-aged-man actor in a flailing contest, this chimpanzee was shipped to the laboratory -- no doubt to live out his tortured days testing the stability of future revisions of Wii wrist straps.In all seriousness, though, kudos to Sega for pledging to keep great apes out of future marketing. Now, if only we could convince the company to be more sensitive to the plight of lycanthropic hedgehogs ...
A vegan character, and other self-imposed boundaries
I really like Pinkywinky's idea that she posted over on the forums-- she's running her character as a vegan, which means no meat (she's a mage, so she only eats her own conjures), no killing of non-hostile animals, no leather wearing (again, as a clothie, no real problem with that), and no attacking anything that doesn't attack her. Of course, that doesn't fit the strict definition of vegan, but you get the idea-- she's giving herself her own boundaries inside the game world, and challenging herself to stay within them.We've seen players do this before (the naked troll is probably the most well-known example), and it's fascinated me every time. WoW is not really a tough game, and so there's all kinds of ways you could make it harder or set up an interesting challenge, either for roleplaying reasons or just to keep it fun. I've always wanted to try play the game without ever talking to anyone at all-- that means no quests, no training, no groups (no talking to players either), no repairs (I'd have to just wear drops as I got them), and no professions. It would be really tough-- I'd probably have to make an exception on the training thing, no matter which class I chose, but I think it would be possible, and it would definitely give a new bent to the game.Have you ever gone without in WoW, just to see if you could?
