Fake meat. What a wonderful description right up there for me with fun run. More apt would be, not genuine; imitation or counterfeit. The product is synthetic and there is nothing wrong with that.
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When nylon and terylene hit the apparel market, was it called "fake wool"? Instead, synthetics were promoted for what they were - cheaper, washable and versatile. Now they are an integral part of everyday living and perform differently to woollen and cotton garments.
Also, sports footwear is dominated by synthetics replacing leather. For instance, if you buy a fake handbag, it is still a handbag; however, it is the quality guaranteed by the manufacturer that is very questionable.
The argument will rage over the use of the term synthetic meats; however, criticism by producers is bound to be non-productive and fall on deaf ears. The alternative meat industry has committed billions towards research, manufacture and marketing, having identified a growing gap in demand and supply. This is plainly obvious with the current prices being notched up for processing and breeding cattle and sheep. Meat has become too expensive for an increasing number of consumers and alternatives provide meal options innovative food manufacturers contend, that in the near future, will meet a worldwide shortage of protein. This will provide obvious opportunities for grain producers as world standards of living increase and diets include a wider range of options.
Claims have been made that meat alternatives can be manufactured 20 to 40 times more efficiently from grain. However, comments that there is not enough land to run livestock to meet burgeoning demand are farfetched. The intensive production of pork and chicken meat and cattle lot feeding debunk this argument.
In fact, what will be needed is greater grain production. Also, the future is very bright for soya bean growers to meet the demand for alternative plant-based foods but it is a difficult crop to grow and limited by geographical locations.
Supermarket shelves by the end of the next decade will stock food items yet to be developed and being plant-based is far more acceptable than those from a test tube. In the end, it is the market that will win the argument.
LITTLE EVIDENCE
There are those that contend that the nitrates and the nitrites in bacon and other processed meats are downright unhealthy. However, there is little evidence to show that bacon in a meal causes harm.
Now, help is on the way.
Japanese researchers have found that the flowering plant Knotweed, when used in the processing of bacon, does away with harmful chemicals.
Knotweed is edible; it is good for you. Japanese Knotweed is an excellent source of vitamins A and C and contains potassium, zinc, phosphorus and manganese.
It has been used for centuries in its native countries for treating many ailments, such as respiratory infections.
The detractors of bacon say that the pinkness of bacon - or cooked ham, or salami - is a sign that it has been treated with chemicals, more specifically with nitrates and nitrites.
It is the use of these chemicals that is widely believed to be the reason why "processed meat" is much more carcinogenic than unprocessed meat.
