IMO they need to not only replicate flavor, but also macro nutrient profiles and a few other things like omega3s and CLA found in grass fed beef.
I think we're better off cleaning up the meat industry than trying to make plants into meat. Fixing things like CAFOs and our corn subsidies could go a long way to a more sustainable meat.
Out of the set of mean eaters who this market would target, I really think the subset that thinks about or considers omega 3 and CLA in their meat is minuscule. I'm a very health conscious omnivore and honestly didn't even know there were omega 3s in beef. Guess that's another excuse for me to eat hamburgers...
I'm regularly surprised by how little the average person knows about the things that make/keep them healthy. If I really wanted a car to last I'd be sure I knew all about the gasoline and oil I was putting into it.
There is always a link to Dr. Mercola's articles when people try to defend the health benefits of eating meat, but no one mentions that is an anti-vaxxer and has many other unscientific claims on his website.
It was just the first hit in google tbh and I already knew it to be true, just needed a link to attempt to satisfy haters.
Seeing as you'd rather attack than do some useful work, I'll do it for you. See below:
"A healthy diet should consist of roughly one to four times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3 fatty acids. The typical American diet tends to contain 11 to 30 times more omega -6 fatty acids than omega -3, a phenomenon that has been hypothesized as a significant factor in the rising rate of inflammatory disorders in the United States[40]. Table Table22 shows significant differences in n-6:n-3 ratios between grass-fed and grain-fed beef, with and overall average of 1.53 and 7.65 for grass-fed and grain-fed, respectively, for all studies reported in this review."[1]
> I'm a very health conscious omnivore and honestly didn't even know there were omega 3s in beef.
Here's a rule of thumb, fresh fatty meats (incl. eggs) contain all human micronutrients except for Vitamin C and so called "phytonutrients" (that usually only make it past our livers/kidneys by accident, as far as could be observed so far in-vivo).
They're extremely efficient at synthesizing phospholipids, EPA, DHA, carnitine, choline, creatine, taurine, coenzyme Q10, carnosine, just from grazing on cellulose all day.. well they're way better at it than all the vegans I know.
Animals absolutely do synthesize nutritious substances that you can't get out of plants. For instance humans, as long as we ingest the 9 essential amino acids, can create from scratch any protein our body needs. Our bodies are also capable of turning protein and fat into carbohydrates when needed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis).
Animals, us included, are not inefficient filters, or tanks that hold minerals and energy. We are chemistry sets designed for survival in a wide range of conditions.
I think we're better off cleaning up the meat industry than trying to make plants into meat. Fixing things like CAFOs and our corn subsidies could go a long way to a more sustainable meat.