New Study Sizes Up Alt-Meats’ Protein Values Vs. the Real Thing by Brian Budzynski, meatingplace.com
W
hen it comes to what type of burger offers the best source of protein, conventional burgers maintain the edge on their alt analogues, according to a
study from the University of Illinois and Colorado State University, which looked at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) as means of determining protein quality. The DIAAS was developed about 10 years ago to address differences in the concentration and digestibility of amino acids among protein sources. “Protein” on a packaged food label is actually a generic term; the true measure of the value of protein is essential amino acids, which are present in
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proteins and which the human body requires. The new study, published in the European Journal of Nutrition, leveraged the DIAAS system to understand protein quality in conventional burgers as well as plantbased burgers from two of the most well-known alt-meat brands, Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. Researchers fed pork burgers, 80 percent and 93 percent lean beef burgers, the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger to pigs, which is the recommended test species for DIAAS studies. The digestibility of individual essential amino acids was measured and those results were then used to compute DIAAS values. Both beef and pork burgers, served without buns, received DIAAS scores of 100+, meaning they were determined to be “excellent” sources of protein for people of all ages. The Impossible Burger also scored as an excellent protein source for ages 3 and up. The Beyond Burger was a found to be a “good” source of protein for ages 3 and up, with a score of 83. Burgers were also scored when consumed with a bun, as grain products typically reduce DIAAS values due to their low protein levels. But even so, pork and beef came out “excellent,” while the Beyond burger remained “good” and the Impossible burger dropped to match it. “There was a greater DIAAS value of mixing either the pork or beef burger with the bun — values of 107 and 105 respectively, for the over-3 age group — than there was for the Impossible Burger, which had a DIAAS value of 86 if consumed with the bun. That means you need to eat 15 percent more of the Impossible Burger-bun combination to get the same amount of digestible amino acids as if you eat the pork-based or the beef-based burgers. And if you have to eat more, that means you also get more calories,” said Mahesh Narayanan Nair, professor at Colorado State and a co-author of the publication. Hans H. Stein, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences and the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Illinois and co-author of the study, added, “Results of this experiment, along with previous data, demonstrate the importance of getting animal-based proteins into diets to provide sufficient quantities of digestible essential amino acids to these populations.”
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JANUARY 2022
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