Organic test shock Vegetarian food is usually insufficient

Vegetarian schnitzel and sausages: meat substitute products are booming. This is how the Ökobarometer shows: every second person would eat less meat. Öko-Test tested meat substitute products now and came to a devastating result.

Out of 22 of the vegetarian products, only one got the grade "good", namely the organic soya schnitzel from Aldi Nord. Almost half rated the magazine as "poor", eight even as "unsatisfactory", for example the "Veggie Bratwurst" from Life Food Taifun and the "Valess Filet, meatless fillets" from Friesland Campina.

Mineral oil is found in many veggie products. (Image: remar / fotolia.com)

"Satisfying" were "Purvegan Albert's Lupine Schnitzel", "Alnatura Veggie Cold Pepper" and "Tofutown Veggie Life Power Hacksteak".

Petroleum residues
Almost all of the products contained petroleum hydrocarbons, which were believed to enter the food via plastic packaging. They are considered harmful and probably lead to organ damage - if they accumulate in the body. The concentration of mineral oil was sometimes so high that it worsened the result by four notes.

Mineral oil included "Rügenwalder Vegetarian Ham Spicker, Bunter Pfeffer", which finished "satisfactorily" and Lidl's "My Best Veggie Vegetarian Mini-Meatballs Klassik". However, the bullets without meat managed only a "sufficient" even without mineral oil.

glutamate
Glutamate as an additive led to further prints - the flavor enhancer causes headaches in some people. The information on the products were sometimes wrong. For example, "Like Meat Doner Chunks" contained the note "Without Flavor Enhancers", but contained spice with glutamate.

Another criticism was the partly too high salt content.

Minerals and vitamins added
Suppliers advertise some of the products with a high content of minerals like iron, zinc or calcium, as well as vitamins like B12. However, these are mostly added substances such as the calcium alginate E404, which serves as a gelling agent.

Origin often unclear
The large discounters Aldi Nord, Penny, Edeka and Lidl bought the goods more in China, USA and Canada, than smaller manufacturers. However, suppliers such as Heirler and Reformhaus are silent about the countries of origin of their products.

"Albert's Lupine Schnitzel" performed particularly well as it uses lupins as a regional alternative to soy.

Healthy alternative?
Meat-free diet is modern as an ethical and healthy alternative to meat products. Tofu, seitan, quom, wheat gluten and Co: Hardly anyone knows what meat replacement is all about.

The seitan schnitzel, tofu sausages or soy doner kebab do not consist of apples, nuts and fresh vegetables: to get a consistency that reminds of burgers, steaks or filets and also, to quote the familiar taste, it needs sugar, Salt and palm fat. Too much of these substances increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and strokes.

High fat content
Some of the products contained as much fat as the imitation meat and sausage products. Negative were Aldi Süd, Topas and Edeka, which used palm fat, which hardly contributes to a healthy diet because of its unsaturated fatty acids - better to replace unhealthy palm oil altogether.

Do it yourself
If you value vegetarian burgers, schnitzels or spreads that are also healthy, you can make them yourself: chickpeas, beans, tofu, wholegrain cereals, olive oil or nuts provide a good basis. (Dr.Utz Anhalt)