Washington | With many American consumers interested in reducing their consumption of animal products without becoming vegetarian or vegan, the food industry has come up with a new mantra: plant-based. Look around your grocery store, and you'll see a growing number of dairy, egg and meat substitutes bearing this label.

But the industry has taken liberties with the definition of "plant-based". Rather than focusing on whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, chickpeas and nuts, which is what health professionals mean when they recommend "plant-based eating", food manufacturers are developing ultra-processed burgers out of pea or soy protein, methylcellulose and maltodextrin, and liquid "eggs" out of mung bean protein isolate and gellan gum. Then they crown this ultra-processed food with an undeserved health halo.

Washington Post