Science is fermenting a fake meat revolution

THERE’S a growing category of foods using an age-old technique that experts say could be a dark horse in the race to create more affordable and tasty meat alternatives: fermentation.

Protein-rich products made from fermenting tiny organisms called microbes could play a significant role in supporting a shift away from more resource-intensive ways of producing food.

A modelling study published last year in Nature found replacing 20% of global consumption of beef and other grazing livestock with microbial proteins grown from fungus could cut annual deforestation in half by 2050 and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

There were more than 130 companies focused on fermentation for alternative proteins last year, an increase of 12% over the number of known companies in 2021, according to an industry report from the Good Food Institute (GFI), a non-profit that promotes meat alternatives. Some experts say consumers can expect to see more products made with fermentation on shelves in the next year or two.

“We’ve been using fermentation for millennia to make food products,” said Adam Leman, lead scientist for fermentation at the GFI.

“We’re able to use a lot of the same types of microbes that we’ve been using for a long time, but just using them in better ways to offer up more solutions for protein, for fats, and generally for feeding all the people that we can.”

Fermentation is a natural process that uses live micro-organisms to transform raw ingredients into products with improved shelf life and nutrition. Tempeh, yogurt, kimchi and beer are just some examples.

The alternative protein industry uses this traditional process as well as two other types of fermentation: biomass and precision.

Biomass fermentation takes protein-rich micro-organisms, such as yeast, filamentous fungi and micro-algae, which grow quickly to produce large amounts of protein efficiently, Leman said.

“Many of those products are then minimally processed, say with a heat treatment and then a drying or flash-freezing to optimise their texture and shelf life,” he said. “They can often contain beneficial nutrients alongside the protein, like dietary fibre and B vitamins.”

Precision fermentation uses microbes to produce specific ingredients that influence the functionality and taste of foods. The ingredients created through this type of fermentation, which include proteins, vitamins, enzymes, fats and natural pigments, can be used to enhance plant-based goods and lab-grown meat to make foods that more closely resemble traditional animal products.

“One thing we know about alternative protein products is that it’s really important that we try to reach taste and price parity with conventional animal products,” said Shayna Fertig, a senior adviser at the GFI. “The aim is really to make these products taste as close to the counterpart that they’re replacing as possible.”

If you plan to try these products, it’s important to be aware of potential allergies, Leman said. People who are allergic to certain types of mould might also be sensitive to some of the products that use fermented fungi.

Specific proteins created through fermentation can also be the same as the ones found in the equivalent animal product, Leman said. For example, if you’re allergic to a protein in traditional milk, you’ll likely be allergic to the version of that protein made from fermenting fungus.

Food components produced through fermentation can make up the bulk of an alternative meat or they can be part of a blend of ingredients. Adding an ingredient created by fermentation to a plant-based patty, for instance, can create a meaty aroma and flavour.