Bad grades at Öko-Test Vegan meat substitutes are often inadequate

Only a few veggie products get good reviews
Whether tofu sausages, lupine schnitzel or vegetable burger: Vegetarian and vegan foods have been experiencing a boom for several years. While the popular meat substitute used to be available only at the organic food store or health food store, today's products are part of almost every supermarket. At first sight, the herbal alternatives seem far healthier than "real" meat - but apparently the appearance is deceptive. Because, as a recent study of the magazine "Öko-Test" shows, contain many products including harmful mineral oil and are therefore anything but recommended.

More than 20 products in the test
More and more people abstain from meat for health, ecological, moral or ethical reasons and eat vegetarian or even vegan food. Accordingly, the demand for alternatives such as vegetarian sausages and schnitzels, which are visually and tastefully reminiscent of products made from "real" meat, has been rising for years.

Öko-Test now tested the so-called "meat substitute products" and came to a devastating result. Only one of the 22 tested vegetarian products 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. "Satisfying" were "Purvegan Albert's Lupine Schnitzel", "Alnatura Veggie Cold Pepper" and "Tofutown Veggie Life Power Hacksteak".

Vegetarian schnitzel are becoming increasingly popular. But beware: Because according to "eco-test" meat replacement products often contain unhealthy palm fat, mineral oil residues and too much salt.

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.

Flavor enhancer Glutamate can cause headaches
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. Aldi Süd, Topas and Edeka, which, according to Ökotest, used palm or coconut oil, which hardly contributes to a healthy diet because of its unsaturated fatty acids - better replace unhealthy palm oil.

Do it yourself
Those who value vegetarian burgers, schnitzels or spreads that are also healthy can best make them themselves: chickpeas, beans, tofu, whole grain cereals, olive oil or nuts provide a good basis. (Dr.Utz Anhalt, nr)