Six Illinois consumers are suing Beyond Meat, one of the leading makers of plant-based burgers and other meat substitutes, alleging that the company overstates the amount of protein in most of their products. It goes on to assert that the “daily value” percentage (“DV”) representing how much protein the product contributes to meeting the government’s daily requirement for protein is grossly exaggerated.
For the product above, for example, the company claims each burger has 20 grams of protein and that represents 40% of an adult’s daily requirement.
The lawyers for the consumers say otherwise in their complaint because they had the products tested by a laboratory.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Plaintiffs’ counsel commissioned testing of Defendant’s Products, which show that the Products do not contain the amount of stated protein amount and/or protein DV [Daily Value] %. For example, Defendant’s Beyond Beef Plant-Based Ground 16oz Patties, which is labeled as “20G Per Serving†and “40% DV†for protein, actually contains 19G Per Serving by nitrogen testing, and 7% DV for protein.
So the tests showed that there is slightly less protein, but how much the protein contributes to your daily requirement for protein is completely out of whack according to the lawyers. They say you are only getting 7% DV because of the quality of the pea protein used, not the 40% claimed. This is because, they contend, the company did not use the proper test to determine protein quality as required by federal regulations which factors in the digestibility and amino acid utilization of the protein being tested. For further reading, here is an article about pea protein vs. whey protein and how they are tested and compare. Contrary to what the lawyers claim, however, it says that pea protein concentrate rates pretty high generally.
The lawsuit concludes that Beyond Meat has misrepresented many of its products in violation of various federal and state consumer protection and other regulations.
For its part, Beyond Meat said “The allegations in the filing are unfounded and not representative of Beyond Meat’s products. We are prepared to vigorously fight this case.â€
With egg prices going through the roof at the moment, some companies still promote premium-priced eggs because they are seemingly raised in a more humane way such as those that are “cage-free” or “free range.”
