On July 20 2019, a Facebook user shared a photograph of what appears to be a block of text from an unnamed newspaper or a magazine, containing the claim that “meat substitutes” Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger had the same ingredients as dog food.
A portion bordered with orange marker contained a section highlighted in blue (italicized below); it read:
University of California professor Frank Mitloehner gave pro-real-meat interests an interesting talking point with the observation that the ingredients in the two leading plant-based meatless burgers are almost identical to those in dog food.
The brands Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat both contain over 20 highly-processed ingredients commonly used in pet foods. Flavors and coloring are the only ingredients used in vegetable-based burgers but not dog food.
Although the post lacked any dates, names of publications, or any lists of ingredients, it proved popular and accrued tens of thousands of shares.
The screenshot came from a July 2019 story in trade publication Real Agriculture, which discussed how heavily processed the foods were rather than the ingredients themselves:
“When you look at Impossible Burger or Beyond Meat, they have 21 or 22 highly processed ingredients. So processed, that you are hard pressed in identifying the difference between those items, versus let’s say, pet food.”
Mitloehner explained to AgriTalk host Chip Flory that this is something that many consumers aren’t aware of, and when given the opportunity, aren’t able to distinguish the difference between the burgers and dog food. Mitloehner took to Twitter to further this point.
“Within 24 hours, I had 100,000 people trying to answer that trivia question as to which one of the three is the dog food. The vast majority of the people had it wrong. I find that very interesting,” he says.
As indicated in the screenshot, a University of California, Davis professor named Frank Mitloehner was responsible for a rather logically fallacious comparison between meat substitutes and dog food:
Dr. Frank Mitloehner, professor at the University of California-Davis, was a guest on AgriTalk last [in June 2019] where he shared about his recent discussion comparing the ingredients of plant-based meat alternatives to high-end dog food.
“When you look at Impossible Burger or Beyond Meat, they have 21 or 22 highly processed ingredients. So processed, that you are hard pressed in identifying the difference between those items, versus let’s say, pet food.”
Mitloehner explained to AgriTalk host Chip Flory that this is something that many consumers aren’t aware of, and when given the opportunity, aren’t able to distinguish the difference between the burgers and dog food. Mitloehner took to Twitter to further this point.
“Within 24 hours, I had 100,000 people trying to answer that trivia question as to which one of the three is the dog food. The vast majority of the people had it wrong. I find that very interesting,” he says.
Ingredients for the Impossible Burger are prominently available on the brand’s website:
Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Sodium Ascorbate (Vitamin C), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.
Similarly, Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger had an ingredients list on their site. It read:
Water, Pea Protein Isolate*, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Pomegranate Fruit Powder, Beet Juice Extract (for color)
*Peas are legumes. People with severe allergies to legumes like peanuts should be cautious when introducing pea protein into their diet because of the possibility of a pea allergy. Our products do not contain peanuts or tree nuts.
The two “meat substitutes” mentioned in the post had very different ingredients from one another. While both mentioned “water” as a first ingredient, the second ingredients provided respectively were soy protein concentrate and pea protein isolate. Third ingredients respectively were coconut oil and canola oil, and the fourth for both were sunflower or coconut oil. The fifth ingredient listed for the Impossible Burger was “natural flavors,” and for Beyond Meat, rice protein.
The screenshot also didn’t specify whether the “talking point” about meat substitutes and dog food was describing wet or dry dog food. We looked at a selection of top-selling wet dog foods to get a broader idea of what is in dog food overall.
Purina ONE Smartblend (Chicken and Rice variety):
Chicken (Source of Glucosamine), Rice Flour, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal (Source of Glucosamine), Whole Grain Wheat, Soybean Meal, Beef Fat Naturally Preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols, Glycerin, Liver Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Mono and Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Caramel Color, Dried Carrots, Dried Peas, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Choline Chloride, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Sulfur. X-4154.
Blue Buffalo Life Protection Adult Dog Food (Chicken & Rice variety):
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Barley, Oatmeal, Pea Starch, Flaxseed (source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor, Peas, Pea Protein, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Potatoes, Dried Chicory Root, Pea Fiber, Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Dicalcium Phosphate, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Garlic, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Sulfate, Vegetable Juice for color, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Parsley, Turmeric, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Copper Sulfate, Biotin (Vitamin B7), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), L-Lysine, L-Carnitine, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Sulfate, Taurine, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Dried Yeast, Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Aspergillus niger fermentation extract, Dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, Dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Sodium Selenite, Oil of Rosemary.
After that, we went over to kibble. Another random pick, Taste of The Wild Grain Free Premium High Protein Dry Dog Food High Prairie Adult (Roasted Bison and Venison), has the following list of ingredients:
Buffalo, lamb meal, chicken meal, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), egg product, roasted bison, roasted venison, beef, natural flavor, tomato pomace, potato protein, pea protein, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, taurine, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
As far as wet food goes, the ingredients for Purina ONE Natural High Protein Gravy Wet Dog Food were provided as:
Chicken and Turkey Broth, Chicken, Liver, Wheat Gluten, Meat By-Products, Brown Rice, Carrots, Soy Flour, Turkey, Corn Starch-Modified, Spinach, Egg Product, Minerals [Potassium Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenite], Added Color, Tricalcium Phosphate, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Choline Chloride. E-4211.
In all the above dog food products, not only were the first ingredients different, but so were the balances of ingredients. Although there were one or two crossover foods such as rice, pet foods were mainly composed of animal products like broth, organ meat, and just meat. Obviously, the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat — by their very nature — contain no meat.
Mitloehner later elaborated that he was trying to make a point about processed foods in general rather than the ingredients in particular, but that failed to make it into the Facebook post quoting him:
Seemingly, the ingredients of the hyped and ultra-processed plant based burgers are indistinguishable from dog food. A few hours after posting, 130,000 people found this post interesting and intriguing, not silly.
— Frank Mitloehner (@GHGGuru) June 30, 2019
The popularity of the Facebook post comparing Impossible Burgers or Beyond Meat to dog food is a clear critique of non-meat eaters, but its claims are false. Ingredient lists for the two items contrasted with the popular dog food varieties (both wet and dry) showed that the first ingredients of the latter were clearly animal products or by-products, and therefore did not match the meat substitutes at all.
- WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS?
- BEYOND BURGER™ INGREDIENTS
- Purina ONE Natural Dry Dog Food
- Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Food – Natural Dry Dog Food for Adult Dogs – Chicken and Brown Rice – 30 lb. Bag
- Taste of The Wild Grain Free Premium High Protein Dry Dog Food High Prairie Adult - Roasted Bison and Venison
- Purina ONE Natural, High Protein Gravy Wet Dog Food
- Faulty Comparison
- Dog food or fake meat? Most can't tell the difference