Impossible Foods has introduced a plant-based sausage that will be served at 139 Burger King restaurants in five U.S. test markets this month.
Impossible Foods claims that their Impossible Sausage offers 7 grams of protein, equivalent to a pork sausage but is lower in fat (8 g) and energy(130 Cal.) compared to a pork sausage which has 21 grams of total fat and 220 calories per two-ounce serving.
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he National Pork Producer Council is opposing the description of the vegetable-based sausage as “pork” regarded as a violation of labeling laws.
Although promoters of vegetable protein substitutes make claims for total protein, they have yet to release details of amino acid content or state the level of salt and various additives that are required to produce a meat analogue.
Dan Kovich, director of science and technology for The National Pork Producers Council stated “this is a brazen attempt to circumvent decades of food labeling law and centuries of precedence. Any adjective placed in front of the word pork can only refine it, not redefine it.”
The NPPC may well fall short of their intent to block pork substitutes since public interest is stimulating demand in meat analogs, not only from vegetarians but flexitarians and omnivores who are displaying an understandable curiosity over the range of meat substitutes.