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Vegan and Meat Alternative Foods

We look at vegan brands of burgers, sausages and other meat substitutes, ownership by big meat producers, meat free ingredients, soya and deforestation, and more. With ethical & environmental rankings of 36 meat alternative brands including tofu, plus recommended buys. 

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This is a shopping guide from Ethical Consumer, the UK's leading alternative consumer organisation. Since 1989 we've been researching and recording the social and environmental records of companies, and making the results available to you in a simple format.

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What to buy

What to look for when buying meat free products:

  • Can it be homemade? Bean burgers are easy to make at home and may have fewer health and carbon issues than ultraprocessed products.

  • Is it vegan? Meat free products may still contain dairy products, which may have been produced through factory farming. Opt for vegan to reduce your climate footprint and protect animal rights.

Subscribe to see which companies we recommend as Best Buys and why 

What not to buy

What to avoid when buying meat alternatives:

  • Does the company also make meat and dairy products? If you want to make sure that you are not funding meat or dairy production at all, opt for a vegan company.
     

  • Does it contain South American soya? Soya production in South America has been linked to deforestation, and degradation of other ecosystems like grasslands and savannahs. Although much of this is for animal feed, it is best to avoid South American soya in human food too.

Subscribe to see which companies to avoid and why

Score table

Updated live from our research database

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Brand Score(out of 100) Ratings Categories

Our Analysis

Meat free products

This guide includes a full range of meat alternatives, from traditionally processed tofu and tempeh to bean burgers and falafel, as well as the more recently developed products which are sold as indistinguishable from meat. 

The brands in the table make vegetarian and vegan meat (and fish) free alternatives. We've included brands that are fully vegan or vegetarian, brands which are vegetarian/vegan but owned by meat companies, and a growing list of vegetarian and vegan meat free brands which are owned by private equity companies. 

This guide will help you sort through the meat free food options, showing who owns what, and how ethically they source their main ingredients. 

It may be a surprise to discover that not all vegetarian and vegan meat free brands are very ethical: some of the brands we've rated for their ethical policies on climate, workers, tax, animals, palm oil and soya sourcing score very poorly, with two scoring only 10 or below (out of a total 100 points). 

But, there are some standout ethical brands in the guide, so there is plenty of choice for making a ethical dinner.

Meat free products aren’t confined to burgers and sausages but include mince, bacon, chicken breast, fish fillets and other alternatives (see the table further down of who makes what).

We have not included supermarkets on the table for space reasons, but our latest guide to supermarkets can be found online.

If you prefer to get your protein from beans and pulses, we have a new guide to these coming very shortly. 

Is plant based the same as vegan?

You may see ‘plant based’ on meat free food labels, but what does it mean and why do brands use it instead of ‘vegan’?

Most people assume that the term ‘plant based’ means that the product is vegan, and often it is, but according to regulations, up to 5% of plant based ingredients are allowed to be egg or milk. A 'plant based' product is based on plants, in that the majority of the ingredients are from plants. So if you are vegan, check the full ingredients list for products that are labelled ‘plant based’ in case there are some non-vegan elements.

Some brands may think that the word vegan has negative connotations which could put some of their target audience off from buying their products. Plant based generally is only applied to food, so someone may say they are plant based, meaning they eat a mainly vegan diet (but may also include dairy, meat and fish), and may not exclude animal products in cosmetics, clothing etc.

What are meat free alternatives and vegan burgers made of?

A lot of meat free products made of soya, but there are a growing number made from jackfruit, pea protein and wheat. We look at some of the common main ingredients for meat free burgers and sausages. 

Soya beans

Soya has long been a staple of Asian and vegetarian/ vegan diets and it is the main ingredient in many of the products rated here. But soya bean cultivation remains linked to deforestation in South America. We look at how sustainable soya-based alternatives are in more detail below.

Soya sausages were invented in Germany during the first world war to deal with meat shortages.

Tempeh

Tempeh is a traditional Indonesian food, made of fermented soya beans – although other beans can be used – and a fungus called Rhizopus. Unlike tofu, the beans remain whole giving it a chunky, chewy texture. It is less processed than tofu and has more fibre but, like tofu, it is high in protein, equivalent to meat, milk and eggs.

Tofu

Tofu, or bean curd, is made from coagulated soya milk. It can come in firm, soft or silken format, in blocks, cubes or be using in products like burgers. 

Seitan

Seitan, which means “is gluten” in Japanese, is made from gluten by washing wheat flour dough with water until all the starch granules have been removed, leaving just the protein. 

Lupin beans

Lupin or lupine beans are sometimes called the ‘soya bean of the north’. Unlike soya they grow in cool climates.

Jackfruit

Jackfruit is the current big thing in meat substitutes. They are enormous fruit that grow on trees in India and surrounding regions. When they are unripe they have a chewy texture that is somewhat like pulled pork, and they absorb flavour very well.

Mycoprotein

Mycoprotein means ‘protein from fungi’. It is the basis of Quorn, which is a type of soil mould that is grown in fermentation vats. It was invented deliberately in a drive to find new proteins to feed the world’s growing population in the mid 1980s. Although the patent on it has now expired, Quorn Foods is still the only company that makes it.

Pea protein

Many of the meat alternatives are made from pea protein which is extracted from yellow and green split peas. It can be processed to create products with a chewy, meaty texture. It can be very realistic, ideal if a household has people with different diets. 

Beans, vegetables and nuts

Some meat free products are less processed and are based on beans, vegetables and nuts. As well as chilled and frozen versions, they are often found in dried packs which you add water to and shape yourself. 

Anyone fancy a hybrid half veggie half meat burger? 

Quorn is working with the NHS and other caterers to create ‘blended’ products, containing both Quorn and meat. These products would not use the Quorn logo, but ingredients lists include “mycoprotein”. 

Blended products were one of the recommendations of a 2019 report by the Climate Change Committee, as a “way to deliver emissions and health benefits while being acceptable to a broad range of consumers”.

Is Quorn vegan?

When Quorn began making food products it was vegetarian as the mycoprotein originally used egg white in the production method. More recently it began making vegan products and now its range includes both vegetarian and vegan foods. It specialises in the meaty-style alternatives.

Person holding cardboard box with chips and burgers, wearing a t-shirt which reads ' Powered by Plants'
Image by Zuriel Escobedo on Pexels

Who owns meat free brands? 

The meat free food industry is quite a crowded space with a variety of different companies involved. Some brands are completely vegan companies. Some popular brands are owned by big meat producing companies who are tapping into the vegan market, and some brands are owned by private capital ventures.

Find out who owns your favourite veggie or vegan burger or sausage in our list below. 

Vegan and campaigning companies

Three brands are independent vegan companies:

  • Clearspring is a family-run business whose mission is to provide organic foods made to traditional recipes
  • Taifun is owned by a foundation for developing sustainable food systems in Germany
  • Veggies is a worker cooperative in Nottingham that has been campaigning for animal rights since 1984

Several brands (Clive’s Pies, VFC, and Meatless Farm) are owned by Veg Capital, whose director is also the co-founder of Veganuary, which promotes and educates about veganism, and which led to over 2100 new vegan products and menu items being launched globally in January 2024. Veg Capital is a private fund that operates as a non-profit and plans to donate all profits to animal charities.

To score full marks in the Animal Products category, company groups had to own only vegan brands. As well as those named as vegan above, other vegan brands include

Meat-owned companies

Several brands are owned by companies which primarily sell meat. Two to be most wary of if you are looking for vegan or vegetarian products are Heck and Richmond, as they have meat products with the same brand name.

Private equity and tax avoidance

There are a number of brands owned by private equity companies.

  • Tofoo Co and its Clearspot brand – previously top scorers and Best Buys – have fallen from the top of the table as the ultimate parent of their new owner Comitis Capital is based in a tax haven.
  • Brands Fry’s, No Meat, and Oumph! are owned by LiveKindly which is owned by Blue Horizon.
  • Squeaky Bean is owned by PAI Partners (which also owns brands Clipper, Kallo, Sunny D, Tropicana and many more).
  • Gosh! is owned by another company, which is owned by Sonae, in turn owned by Efanor Investimentos.
  • Goodlife is owned by IK Investment Partners

All of these owners have subsidiaries in tax havens of a type which could be used for tax avoidance. 

Supermarket own-brands

We have not included supermarket own brands in the table; see our guide to supermarkets for how they rate.


Buy or boycott? Big business ownership of vegan brands

If private equity companies, meat companies, or supermarkets sell more vegan alternatives, it enables more people to access them. 

We don’t want to advise people to boycott any companies that are making it possible to make the switch from meat if they can’t access other more ethical alternatives. But, if possible, we advise buying from brands that have ethics running throughout their business.

Who is JBS and what vegan brands does it own?

JBS is the owner of the Richmond and Vivera brands in this guide. (Note that Richmond has meat and vegan products under the same name).

JBS is the world’s largest meat producer, some of whose suppliers have been accused of animal cruelty. JBS bought Vivera in 2021 and in May 2022 it became the majority shareholder in cultured meat company BioTech. 

In October 2024, “A collective warning of risks to people, planet and investors” was sent to JBS investors by a group of 20 organisations including World Animal Protection, Changing Markets Foundation, and Greenpeace, about JBS’s updated application to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

It noted that JBS had “removed its reference to a ‘zero tolerance to … invasion of protected areas such as Indigenous lands or environmental conservation areas’ in its latest application”, at the same time as there was new evidence connecting JBS to deforestation and the violation of Indigenous rights in its supply chain in Brazil.

Risks also included JBS S.A. being delisted by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for failing to submit a climate plan, and the fact that JBS’s previous major attempt to list shares had been undermined by its controlling shareholders, the Batista brothers, admitting to bribing more than 1800 politicians including Brazil’s former president Michel Temer. The listing, if it went ahead, would result in the Batista family almost doubling their shareholder voting rights from 48% to 84%, disenfranchising all other shareholders.

The Batista brothers are also one of the targets of the 350.org climate campaign 'Tax their Billions', which accused them of "using loopholes to avoid paying the amounts of tax ordinary people pay and using their wealth to ride roughshod over democratic processes and decisions. At the same time, their investments and lifestyles are trashing the planet."

Which brands make what meat alternatives?

With so much choice available, how do you know which brand make what vegan and meat alternatives? In the table below brands are listed alphabetically and the products are vegan unless otherwise stated.

Products may be dried, chilled, frozen, in jars or other packets.

Vegetarian and vegan food brands and what they make
Brand Products Available in wholefood shops? Stocked by supermarkets?
Beyond Meat Burgers, sausages, mince, ready meals Yes Yes
Biona Vegetable / bean burgers, jars of tempeh, jackfruit, seitan, pea & fava shreds, bites,  Yes  
Birds Eye Burgers, sausages, nuggets, fish fingers, fillets   Yes
Bonsan Sausages, fish-free fillet, steak, chunks, shredded jackfruit Yes  
Cauldron Sausages, tofu (plain and flavoured), falafel, bakes Yes Yes
Clearspot Tofu (plain, flavoured, marinated, scrambled, silken, smoked), tempeh, jackfruit (jar). Yes Yes
Clearspring Tofu (plain), dry mince, dry soya chunks, jackfruit in a jar Yes Tofu only
Clive's Pies Pies, quiches, tarts, sausage rolls, nut roast,  Yes Yes
Dragonfly Tofu (plain, marinated and smoked) Yes  
Fry’s Burgers, sausages, mince, nuggets, chunks, schnitzels,
hotdogs
Yes Yes
Goodlife Bean burgers, kyiv, falafel Yes Yes
Gosh! Vegetable / bean burgers, falafel, bites   Yes
Heck Chipolatas   Yes
Linda McCartney Burgers, sausages, mince, meatballs, steaks, nuggets, roast,
pieces, shredded duck, pies (plaits and mozzerella burgers not vegan)
Yes Yes
Meatless Farm Burgers, sausages, mince, meatballs, chicken breast, filled pasta, pizza   Yes
No Meat Burgers, mince, roast, strips, fried strips, sausage rolls Yes Yes
Oumph! Mince, meatballs, bites, chunks, kebab, ribs, drum, bits Yes Yes
Quorn Burgers, sausages, mince, nuggets, pieces, slices, fish fingers, wings, bakes, sausage rolls, strips, scampi. Veggie only: escalopes, cocktail sausages, picnic eggs, ready meals, bacon, balls, fillets, roasts, pies, veggie meatballs Yes Yes
Richmond Burgers, sausages, mince, bacon, pieces, slices   Yes
Squeaky Bean Pieces, strips, fillets and slices, tuna flakes, snacks, chorizo   Yes
Taifun Sausages, tofu (plain, flavoured, silken, smoked), wieners, cutlets Yes  
THIS Burgers, sausages, mince, bacon, lardons, various chicken pieces and roast   Yes
Tofoo Tofu (plain, flavoured, scrambled), tempeh, seitan Yes Yes
VBites Burgers, sausages, bacon, hotdogs, nuggets, pieces, fish steaks, goujons, slices, pepperoni, pate, pie, roasts Yes  
Vegetarian Butcher Burgers, sausages (veggie only), mince, chunks, shawarma, hotdog, peckers, breast, veggie meatballs   Yes
Veggies Burgers (dry mix), sausages (dry mix), nut roast mix Yes or direct  
VFC Foods Sausages, mince, fillets, breasts,    Yes
Vivera Burgers, mince, meatballs, nuggets, fillets, kebabs,
steak, pieces
  Yes

Which meat free brands are vegan?

In this guide some brands make only vegan products, and some are vegetarian with some vegan products in their range. This list below doesn't take ownership into account - see above for which brands are owned by meat companies.

Brands with all-vegan products 

The vegetarian brands are:

Heck's chipolatas in this guide are their only vegan product, the rest of the range is meat. Richmond uses the same name brand for its vegan products and its meat products.

Are there any organic meat free alternatives?

Some of the brands in our guide are fully organic, or have some organic products. These are:

Tempeh on skewers
Image of tempeh by Ella Olsson on Unsplash

Environmental impact of meat 

Less meat = lower emissions, water, and land use. 

Reducing meat and dairy consumption is one of the most significant ways to cut greenhouse gases. Replacing traditional burgers and sausages with meat free alternatives from this guide can be one step towards reducing our climate footprint.

As our Climate Gap report states, “Dietary changes have a huge potential for reducing greenhouse gases, not only those released during production, but also those that could be captured by land not used for production.”

Producing a kilo of beef creates, on average, about 12 times more CO2e than a kilo of tofu.

Livestock also uses huge amounts of land both for grazing and for growing feed. One estimate is that if we all went vegan, we could reduce the land used by agriculture by 75%.

Find out more in our article “Climate impact of meat, vegetarian and vegan diets”.

Comparing meat and vegetarian / vegan products on water use 

Water use is also much lower for pulses (on which many meat free alternatives are based) and other plant foods. It the list below we compare the average water use of dairy and meat, with pulses, tofu, Quorn, and Beyond Meat. 

Average water use:

  • Dairy 2714 (litres per kg of product)
  • Pork 1796
  • Beef 1451
  • Pulses 436
  • Tofu 149
  • Quorn 61
  • Beyond Meat 21

(Figures taken from Rethinking Plant-Based Meat Alternatives by The Food Foundation, 2024. Water footprint figures of other meat free brands in this guide were not available.)

Meat lobbyists undermining climate action 

It is widely acknowledged that dietary changes could be key to tackling climate change, but the meat lobby is desperate to resist change. Under the influence of delegates from beef-producing countries, references to plant based diets were removed from the IPCC report in 2023; record numbers of meat and dairy lobbyists turned up at the COP climate conference in 2023; and in 2024 a report by InfluenceMap revealed how the meat and dairy industry was stalling EU policies to address greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.

Take action: Watch and share the short video by Changing Markets

Some brands are reducing their environmental pledges

In April 2024, Unilever, owner of the Vegetarian Butcher brand, confirmed plans to scale back its environmental and social pledges, such as reduction of plastic packaging, living wages for direct suppliers, and a commitment that 5% of its workforce would be made up of people with disabilities by 2025.

Animal welfare and animal rights reasons to switch to meat free

Less meat = fewer animals slaughtered.

Aside from the climate and land impact of eating meat, there are the animals themselves to consider. From an animal rights standpoint, many people believe that animals are not ours to exploit and kill. From an animal welfare standpoint, now 80% of farm animals in the UK are raised on factory farms, up from 70% when we last wrote this guide.

According to World Animal Protection, the UK counties with the highest concentrations of factory farms are North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Shropshire, and Suffolk. World Animal Protection is campaigning for a total ban on new factory farms being built by 2030. It is aiming for 100,000 people to sign its petition, which at the time of writing has just over 78,000 signatures.

Find out about the problems with factory farming in our separate article.

Take action on factory farms by signing the World Animal Petition.

Full online access to our unique shopping guides, ethical rankings and company profiles. The essential ethical print magazine.

Plate of block of tofu, and dish with cubed tofu

Soya, deforestation and soya sourcing

Around 80% of global soya is fed to livestock for meat and dairy production and much of the rest is used for biofuels and vegetable oils. 

In 2021, less than 4% of soya was used directly for human food products such as the ones rated here. 

So, tofu, tempeh, and meat free products have a tiny deforestation potential compared to meat.

However, we have still rated companies on their soya sourcing to find out where it comes from, as the soya supply chain can be linked to deforestation and the degradation of other ecosystems like grasslands and savannahs, mainly in South America which is at the greatest risk from soya production. We also uncovered which brands have parent companies using soya for animal feed, even if the meat free brand is soya-free.

Soya sourcing policies of vegetarian and vegan alternatives

Soya free

Organic soya – unlikely to come from South America

Brand says it’s not from South America

  • Meatless Farm (soya from North America and China)
  • Oumph! (most from Europe)
  • THIS (soya from USA)
  • Vivera (soya from France, North America, and China, but is owned by JBS which has received criticisms for sourcing soya from deforested land)

Does not say where soya is from, or says it sources from South America

Brand is soya free, but company group uses animal feed and no statement about soya


Is my veggie or vegan burger causing deforestation?

Most probably not. The biggest drivers of deforestation particularly in the Amazon are for cattle ranching, and soya to feed to animals. As noted above, very little of the global soya production is for direct human consumption. Products like tofu and tempeh have a tiny impact compared to meat in terms of global soya production. 

However, you may still choose to avoid South American soya, and the brands which aren't clear on their source of soya. 

Our feature Is Soya Sustainable? has more information on soya and deforestation. 

Palm oil use by meat free brands

We looked at whether companies used palm oil, and if so, was it certified (RSPO or organic).

Many companies were palm oil free and scored full marks in our rating for this category:

For some, the brand was palm oil free but the company group uses palm

Certified palm only

  • Hain Daniels (Linda McCartney) used only certified palm oil
  • Unilever (Vegetarian Butcher) (but has been criticised in the last five years by Global Witness and Chain Reaction Research for links to deforestation for palm in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia)

Some also used only (or mostly) segregated palm oil, which gained them extra points:

No policy and used palm oil

There were only two brands which used palm oil for which we could not find a policy. 

Meatless Farm only appeared to use palm oil in its sausage roll, but it also had a professional food service which included a wider range of pastries containing palm oil. 

The brand “THIS” only appeared to use palm in two of its products, and only one specified that it was RSPO-certified.

Are people eating less meat?

Our annual Climate Gap report uses DEFRA Family Food datasets to track levels of meat consumption. These suggest there was a 10% drop in household meat consumption between 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

However, this data is based on participants collecting information in food diaries, and changes to data collection due to the pandemic may mean the figures are inaccurate.

A reader contacted us to clarify, “Other data sources on meat consumption per person in the UK such as DEFRA's Agriculture in the UK reports which monitor net supply and OECD reports on consumption do not indicate a reduction in meat consumption in 2022. In fact, in the DEFRA data, 2022 is the peak year for meat consumption per capita since records started in 1985. In the OECD data, 2022 consumption is above the two previous years and only marginally below the previous peak in 2005.”

Apparently, meat consumption has dipped in the Netherlands and Germany. “After years of consumer awareness campaigns about the health, environmental, and animal welfare benefits of a shift to plant-rich diets, Dutch and German consumers – especially the younger generations such as Gen Z – have realised that it’s good for their own health and that of the planet to eat more plants and less meat and dairy”, said researcher Nico Muzi. These results were probably enabled by supermarkets like Lidl lowering prices of plant based foods to match or be cheaper than meat.

Support for reducing or cutting out meat in your diet

There is lots of support and help for people who wish to reduce their intake of meat (and dairy). Here are just a few suggestions:

The Meat Free Mondays website includes loads of recipes, ideas and background info.

If you want to trial eating vegan for one month, Veganuary is there to support you. Sign up, choose the day to start, and you’ll receive a celebrity cookbook, 10 meal plans, and 31 coaching emails.

More ideas in our article on 10 steps to cut down on meat and dairy.

Price comparisons of vegan and meat free products

For people wanting to replace meat products with processed plant based equivalents, the cheapest alternatives by weight, and closest in price to their meat equivalents, tend to be mince and meatballs, then burgers and sausages. The most expensive are bacon, chicken fillets, and chicken nuggets.

The average prices of meats and meat free alternatives overall per 100g vary considerably but they are roughly as follows:

  • Grains and beans 39p
  • Meat (red and poultry) 81p
  • Traditional processed (e.g. tofu, tempeh) 112p
  • Processed (new generation, i.e. meat-like) 140p

Figures from Rethinking Plant-Based Meat Alternatives, by The Food Foundation, 2024.

Processed plant based meat alternatives are most expensive, however, campaign groups say that real meat is VAT free, and the government should remove VAT from plant based meat alternatives too.
 

Burger with avocado, red pepper, tomato and quiona

Meat free foods and ultra-processed claims

Plant based foods have taken a bit of criticism in recent years, often being associated with actual evidence of the ill-health effects of high levels of wider ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption. It’s worth considering where the criticism is coming from, which plant based foods really are ultra-processed, and how they fit into the context of people’s overall diets.

According to a 2023 report by the corporate watchdog Changing Markets Foundation, the social media narrative about plant based meat and dairy alternatives being “ultra-processed” “Frankenfoods”, is driven mostly by a small group of 50 accounts associated with “self-described wellness experts or notable far-right and right-wing media and political figures”. The report suggested that “certain people are trying to undermine scientific consensus on the reduction of meat and dairy consumption necessary to stop climate change and improve public health.”

Misleading criticism of alternative proteins

“Criticism of UPF focuses on alternative proteins – when in reality the UPF market is much bigger than just meat substitutes”, says Changing Markets.

An October 2024 article on the BBC website titled “Should we be worried about vegan ultra-processed foods?” used an image of a vegan burger, and referenced some recent research which linked consumption of “ultra-processed foods derived from plants” to a higher risk of diet-related death. However, it went on to clarify that the UPF foods referred to “included a number of foods considered ‘vegan by default’, such as bread, crisps and condiments”, and that “meat alternatives were the smallest contributor to calories among the participants overall, at 0.2%”.

Given that UPFs make up 57% of mean calorific intake in the UK, the 0.2% that are meat alternatives is a tiny proportion.

The article also noted that there is disagreement about the accuracy of the Nova classification system, which groups foods by how processed they are. Different foods within the Nova UPF group can have quite different nutritional profiles. If you compare a processed meat sausage with a Beyond Meat burger, only the latter boasts no cholesterol, low sugar, source of fibre, and low saturated fat. Both are high in protein (good) and high in sodium (not so good).

Less processed options also available 

It seems an occasional vegan burger is not a big problem. 

Traditional and less processed alternatives such as tofu and tempeh are not considered UPFs, and some people may prefer these. Some meat free alternatives such as falafels or bean burgers are also less processed. 

For the healthiest, and best-value meat-free bean and pulse alternatives, see our forthcoming guide to these products. 

Make your own burgers and sausages

You can get round issues like ultra-processed foods, packaging on bought products, and the need to use a fridge/freezer for most of the bought meat free alternatives by making your own products using ethically sourced ingredients like dried beans. 

It's also possible to buy British. For example, Suffolk-based Hodmedod’s grow a lot of beans and pulses in the UK, which are likely to have a lower climate impact, better food miles, workers' rights, and food security.

There are plenty of recipes online for making your own meat free products.

Or you can buy dried packet mixes from the social enterprise Veggies.org,uk, or Sosmix, a brand which has been around almost as long as there have been vegetarians.

And look out for our new guide to beans and pulses coming soon!

Is lab grown meat an option?

Cultivated meat in pet food in the UK was approved in July 2024. 

Techniques previously used to create cell-cultivated medicines are now being used to create cultivated meat for human consumption. The Food Standards Agency is developing an approval process that would take two years for companies to complete.

Companies say cultivated meat is safer in several respects than traditional meat as it avoids certain bacteria like E coli and salmonella and sidesteps the issue of overuse of antibiotics in farms.

The animal cells, usually harvested from live animals via biopsy, are then grown and developed using various growth factors which the FSA plans to ensure are safe.

The abbreviations in the score table mean the product gets a sustainability point for different things:  [O] = organic, [S] = soya not sourced (1 point) or unlikely to be sourced from (0.5 point) South America, [Vg] = vegan.

This guide appeared in Ethical Consumer Magazine 212

Company Behind the Brand

Gosh! is owned by Sonae, a Portuguese multinational company and operator of the supermarket group Continente. In 2023, Sonae was reported to be defending criticism that it was hiking up prices under the guise of rising energy and other costs. In the first half of 2022, while many were experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, Sonae Group saw profits increase by 89%.
 

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