Beginning at NYU in Jan 2013 within the context of a Patents Translation course delivered online, this blog seeks to uncover the patents that rock our daily lives....
Too little or too old to manipulate mobile phone or
tablet playlists? Strong desire to play and listen to music or favorite songs?
Muuselabs Ltd., a Belgian startup has invented a screenless and connected smart
music player with linked playlists that even toddlers can play. This music
player, marketed exclusively for little kids, is called Jooki®, short for “jukebox”. A WIFI and Bluetooth connected jukebox speaker for small kids, invented by former Google, Huawei, and Barco, “tender-hearted
geek daddies” with plenty of hands-on-at-home experience, in collaboration with
a combined total of six very small
beta-version testing children.
Toddlers choose a toy character linked to playlists, and
just position it on the speaker player. It
is as simple as that. Parents
do the leg work by creating the playlists and connecting them to the anchoring
toy characters and player. The fact that Jooki® is designed without a screen pleases many parents, as
screens are perceived as devices that isolate. Jooki® is also specially designed to give parents a
break from responding to ever-pressing requests for playing favorite songs and
music from an adult tablet or mobile phone, while offering complete control on the
content. The player speaker includes a headset jack, rechargeable battery lasting 8 hours, an SD card slot, and an app for programming the playlists, and setting up the WIFI connection. Jooki® is robust and interactive, allowing even the smallest child to play
favorite songs and music wirelessly, inside or outdoors, simply placing toy characters
linked to playlists onto a player that dubs as a high-quality sound
speaker.
The below YouTube video shows children at play with Jooki®, the jukebox for kids.
The Jooki® invention is recited in the PCT WIPO patent application WO2015078923 (A1) titled Interactive Media System. The invention arises
out of the observation that MP3 players and other conventional media players
require skills unsuitable for small children and perhaps no longer suitable for
the elderly or disabled. Skills such as reading tiny screen information and fine
motor coordination for scrolling and selecting information using pushbuttons
and click wheels. Thus, the Jooki® invention is an improvement on prior media
players. It is designed without a screen, and easy to manipulate playlist-linked
characters, in the shape of-easy-to-grasp objects that the user can simply place
onto the music player.
While the scope
of the invention extends to various user populations, the marketed Jooki®
targets young children. Similarly, while the scope of the invention extends to
books, music, images and video, the marketed Jooki® is an audio jukebox –
without excluding future more diversified manufacturing.
The patent describes the various components
of the invention and their operation. The components comprise such items as the
anchors, sensors and the player speaker; the computer chip suitable for media
decoding, playing and for controlling the media player, also for decrypting unique
anchor identifiers received by the device sensor using an anchor association database
with a look-up table that associates a unique anchor identifier with media files
or sets of file; the media storage device for storing media files; the audio
amplifier, speaker, microphone, and the user controls for on/off, volume and
forward/backward functions; as well as the media management software executed
by the player, enabling storage of playlists onto the device.
The abstract of the invention is included below together with the
patent Figure 5 drawing, showing the Jooki® Interactive Media System 100
with two linked figurative anchors, depicting a cello 105A and a drum 105B. The linked anchors are placed on the player, where a sensor 120
is designed to detect the unique anchor identifier linked to a particular playlist, enabling to play the music files. An image of the marketed Jooki® player with its lined-up
play toy anchors is also included next to the patent figure drawing. For this invention, the below juxtaposition of images highlights differences between prototype design and the final marketed product.
The present disclosure provides an interactive media system. The system includes a set of anchors. Each anchor in the set of anchors is associated with an interactive audio/video composition. Each anchor includes an anchor identifier device includes an anchor
identifier. The system also includes an anchor sensor configured to: detect the anchor identifier device of one anchor; read
the anchor identifier device of the detected anchor to obtain the unique anchor identifier from the detected anchor identifier device; and transmit the unique anchor
identifier. The system also includes a media player configured to: receive the unique anchor identifier from the sensor; identify a media
file that is associated with the unique anchor identifier, the media file being part of a playlist that forms the interactive audio/video composition; obtain the media file; and play the media file. [Abstract WO2015078923 (A1)]
Bottom
line… Jooki® was voted best ever
music player for kids! It received the Best Family Tech Award at CES 2017; the
Most Innovative Product Award at Distree Connect 3rd Edition, in
Paris, in April 2017, after convincing judges in less than 60 seconds; and one
of 8 awards at the Copenhagen Most Creative Business Competition, in 2016.
Beyond Meat® is the new faux
meat kid on the NASDAQ stock exchange, trading with the ticker symbol BYND (NASDAQ). The
company launched its IPO on May 2, 2019 with an initial share price of $25. Today, BYND shares are trading at more than $200, up 700%! The US faux meat sector of the economy is up 11%. Faux meat is hot, hot, hot! (Reinicke, 2019)
If you are wondering about cooking your own faux meat, Beyond Meat® burger patties are available in the meat
sections of supermarkets and grocery stores across the country (Bernot, 2019). Beyond Meat®
has also partnered with Dunkin’® Donuts for rolling out faux breakfast sausage sandwiches, and is preparing to roll out faux bacon (Weiner-Bronne, 2019; O'Kane, 2019). Thus, you might already find
faux sausages called Beyond
Sausages®, in two flavors: Brat Original and Hot Italian, at your local
supermarkets, and faux bacon some
time in the very near future. In the interim, you will also find Beyond Beef®
Crumbles in the frozen section of supermarkets to make tacos and/or to add to
your favorite spaghetti sauce, as well as Beyond Beef® faux ground beef (e.g.; for making meatballs). Bonus mouthwatering recipes
are included at the Beyond Meat® website.
The ingredients and processes for producing Beyond Meat® faux beef, faux sausages and faux bacon
are disclosed most recently in the US patent application US20180310599A1, titled Meat-like
food products. The Beyond Meat® 2018 patent application is uncommon in that
the 52-page document contains 80 paragraphs (7 pages in two columns) of definitions
for the special meanings of the terms used to disclose the Beyond Meat® invention.Thus, you will find useful definitions, in the description section of this patent application, for terms that may appear
obscure, such as 80/20 and 90/10 beef or crosslinking; for unusual uses of terms
such as dough, flour and gel in reference
to meat; or for dispelling the potential legal ambiguity of such terms as about, or the indefiniteness of evaluation parameters such as doneness, chewiness, cohesiveness, juiciness, gumminess, springiness, taste, texture, sizzle sound,
and mouthfeel.
The Beyond Meat® invention arises with a
threefold concern for the health, environmental and ethical issues connected to
the consumption of animal meat, animal husbandry and cruelty. Accordingly, the
invention strives to remedy with a product that is healthier than animal meat,
as nutritious, and without the high greenhouse gas footprint, and insane cruelty
associated with animal meat production.
Compared to the prior art of
plant-based meat alternatives, the Beyond Meat® invention particularly
addresses the quality of the sensory experience of eating and cooking meat
(e.g.; sounds and aromas during the transition from raw to cooked faux meat,
the mouthfeel, taste, chewiness, juiciness and texture when ingested); the
nutritional and health values of plant-based meat (e.g.; without cholesterol or high saturated fat content, or the risks of allergy to gluten and soy); and the versatility
of use (e.g.; as faux patties for burgers, faux ground meat for meatloaf and sauces, crumbles for tacos, or stuffed
in a sausage skin for hotdogs).
Indeed,
the invention seeks to exceed customer satisfaction for animal meat, in an
effort to finally win animal meat consumers over to the vegetarian and/or vegan
camp. At the end of the day, this invention is a challenge to Go Beyond™ meat, to join a movement with
different beliefs and the higher purposes of mitigating climate change and
promoting health. The company states on its website:
“Go Beyond™ isn’t a polite invitation.
It’s a bold challenge to break barriers, defy convention, shatter expectations.”
The Youtube video below spotlights the Go
Beyond™ message and movement.
The Beyond Meat® patent application recites
in great detail all the various meat-like food products: the possible
ingredients and their percentages per weight that enter into various compositions
of Beyond Meat® faux meat (e.g.; meat-like proteins, lipids, carbohydrates,
edible fibre, and moisture) and their binding agents.
The patent application also recites the
various agent release systems, including emulsions, functioning to promote such aspects of the meat-like food products as
juiciness, binding of cooked or uncooked faux
meat, taste, sizzle sounds with the release of fats, and doneness triggered by
heat from the outside to the center, interacting with the red color of the faux meat.
In particular, for some embodiments of the
invention, the red color of the faux
meat is also described as potentially using various natural extracts and their
combinations, such as for example:
“beet extract and annatto, beet extract
and turmeric, beet extract and saffron, beet extract and purple carrot, beet
extract and grape seed extract, beet extract and tomato extract, beet extract
and lycopene, beet extract and beta carotene, beet extract and anthocyanin,
beet extract and anthocyanin and annatto, beet extract and annatto and
lycopene, beet extract and ascorbic acid , anthocyanin and annatto, beet extract
and annatto and ascorbic acid, beet extract and annatto and beta carotene,
beet extract and turmeric and ascorbic acid, and anthocyanin and lycopene and
annatto.” [0142]
The abstract of the Beyond Meat® faux meat
invention is included below, together with the patent Figure 1 image of a burger. An image of the marketed uncooked Beyond Meat® patty burgers is also included above.
Provided are food products that have
structures, textures, and other properties comparable to those of animal meat, and
that may therefore serve as substitutes for animal meat. Also provided are
processes for production of such ground meat - like food products. [Abstract US20180310599A1]
-----
In the twilight zone, it remains to be
seen whether the backlash for the Beyond Meat® invention might not come from those
vegetarians who are choking at how much Beyond Meat® looks, tastes and
smells like real animal meat, when such vegetarians have not joined forces with
nutritionists who point out that highly-processed
plant-based foodsuch as faux meat is different from plant-based
whole foods (Harris, 2019; Sweeney, 2019). However, such true vegetarians are probably still far
outnumbered by vegetarians still-craving-for-meat, and meat lovers who have no
plans yet for a plant-based diet, both of which might indeed be won, in ever greater numbers, as Beyond Meat® consumers.
Business Insider Reinicke, C. (July 23 2019) - Beyond Meat® extends
its post-IPO surge to 734%, breaking the $200-a-share threshold for the first
time (BYND)
Departure of the First Moon Landing
Mission from Earth, at Cape Kennedy, Florida, aboard the Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket – Astronauts:
Neil Armstrong (Commander), Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (Lunar Module “Eagle” Pilot)
and Michael Collins (Command Module "Columbia" Pilot)
July 20, 1969
“The Eagle has landed.” (Armstrong, 1969). Landing of the detached Lunar Module (LM) named “Eagle” on the moon.
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (Armstrong, 1969). First step on the moon, followed by Buzz Aldrin, twenty minutes later.
July
24, 1969 – Return to earth, re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, and splashdown 900 miles southwest of Hawaii, 13 miles from the USS
Hornet recovery ship, aboard Command Module Columbia, with three giant
parachutes deployed.
The following is a hyperlinked sample list
of additional Impossible Foods Inc., patents and patent applications, reciting
various Impossible Foods Inc.; food technology inventions. A YouTube video interview is also included, of Dr.
Patrick Brown, the Founder and CEO of Impossible Foods Inc., at Hub Culture 2018, in Davos.
Some of the patents
listed are part of large patent families. For example, the US patent
application US2017290363A1, titled Methods and compositions for affecting the
flavor and aroma profile of consumables, reciting the engineered cooking aroma
invention of Impossible Food Inc.; faux meat, belongs to a 96-member patent
family. Thus, the below list is far from exhaustive.
AU2018200707A1 - Non-dairy cheese replica comprising a coacervate
AU2016231499B2 - Methods and compositions for consumables
AU2012281064A1 - Methods and compositions for consumables
AU2014205122B2- Non-dairy cheese replica comprising a coacervate
CA2897600A1 - Methods and compositions for affecting the
flavor and aroma profile of consumables
CA2897602A1 - Methods and compositions for
consumables
CA2897606A1 - Non-dairy cheese replica comprising a coacervate
EP2943072B1 - Methods and compositions for affecting the flavor and
aroma profile of consumables
US9700067B2- Methods and compositions for affecting
the flavor and aroma profile of consumables
US9808029B2 - Methods and compositions for affecting
the flavor and aroma profile of consumables
US9833768B2 - Affinity reagents for protein purification
US9938327B2 - Expression constructs and methods of genetically
engineering methylotrophic yeast
US10039306B2 - Methods and compositions for consumables
US10087434B2 - Methods for extracting and purifying non-denatured
proteins
US2017290363A1 - Methods and compositions for affecting the
flavor and aroma profile of consumables
US2019008192A1- Methods and compositions for consumables
TR201802708T4- Tüketim ürünlerinin tat ve aroma profiline etki edilmesine yönelik yöntemler ve bileşimler [English title:Supplies methods and compositions for influencing
the flavor and aroma profiles.]
WO2013138793A2 - Affinity reagants for protein purification
WO2013010042A1 - Methods and compositions
for consumables
WO2015042405A1 - PH switchable reagents and methods for their use
Patented cheese? Impossible! Yes, Impossible™ cheese! Plant or plant-based faux cheese that slices, melts,
grates or cubes. Faux cheese that tastes like real cheese in all of its regional varieties, without the lactose, the cholesterol or high saturated fat content.
Impossible Foods Inc., the same company that is currently experiencing difficulties keeping up with demands for Impossible™ Whoppers®, filed a US patent
application for its faux cheese invention in the document US20140127358A1, titled Methods
and compositions for consumables.
The Impossible Foods Inc., patent application informs us that, for more than 4000 years, humans have been
making cheese, curdling dairy milk, using rennet (animal, vegetable or
microbial), or some combination of acid, like lemon or vinegar, and heat,
depending on the type of dairy cheese being produced. However, Rennet cannot be
used for the process of making cheese from nondairy milk, such as almond milk,
chestnut milk, pecan milk, hazelnut milk, cashew milk, pine nut milk, and
walnut milk.Thus, various prior art
processes have been developed to produce nondairy, plant-based cheese. While
nondairy cheese-making processes may reduce the global energy footprint of dairy
cheese making, estimated to generate 4% of greenhouse gases, as well as all
risks of lactose allergies and other diet-related health issues, this tradeoff is purported to fail
replicating the desirable properties of real cheese. Indeed, prior art plant-based products are
deemed quite inadequate in replicating such prized properties as the mouthfeel,
aromas, and tastes of real cheese, in all of its immense variety.
The
Impossble Foods Inc., faux cheese invention thus arises primarily as a solution
to the prior art problem of quality (i.e. mouthfeel, taste, and aroma) of the
faux cheese replicas, and by extension various health concerns for allergies
and diet, as well as the global warming costs of producing real cheese. The detailed
description of the Impossible Foods Inc., patent application is divided into 4 sections: I - Formulation
of the plant-based milk [0052] II - Curdling process of plant or plant-based milk [0084] III - Production process of cheese replicas using the curdled plant milk [0095], and IV - Varieties and uses of the invention cheese replicas, both for human and animal consumption, and
veterinary purposes [0112] The four sections of the detailed description conclude with seven Examples[0129 - 0239], covering such items as: Example 1 - Comparative effectiveness of transglutaminase in curdling various sorts of nut milk [0129] Example 2 - Preparation of almond and macadamia nut milk [0130] Example 3 - Preparation of a soft fresh
cheese replica [0145] Example 4 - Preparation of a salted softcheese
replica[0159] Example 5 - Preparation of aripened soft cheese replica [0185] Example 6 - Production of a goat cheese
replica [0201] Example 7 - Alternative production of cultured gels using purified or synthesized protein
emulsions, in contrast to the more ancestral dairy cheese-making process, informing the production of faux cheese [0215]
In the first section of the detailed description of the invention[0052-0083], in regards to the
formulation of plant milk, the application discloses various processes for
obtaining the plant-based emulsion or nut milk, comprising collection of the raw, roasted, dry roasted, toasted or baked nuts (e.g.;
almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, chestnuts, coconuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts,
peanuts, pecans, pistachios or walnuts) or seeds (e.g.; legumes, cereals, and
gymnosperms); surface sterilization
of the nuts or seeds to remove contaminants, decompounding (i.e.; grinding, blending, milling or other processes) of
the nuts or seeds in water to form a slurry, and centrifugation of the plant slurryto remove at least 85% of the suspended insoluble solids,
otherwise hindering the formation of curds. A discovery that was found to
explain the grainy or pasty mouthfeel of the prior art cheese
replicas. The invention centrifugation process thus results in a “cream layer” and
“skim layer” from which insoluble particles have been substantially removed.
The creamy layer is an emulsion that comprises proteins, fats, and water. The “skim
layer” is a solution that comprises proteins in water. The layers might be
separated and recombined in different ratios, or used separately, depending on
the type of cheese preparation. The nut milk obtained might then be pasteurized.
Proteins might otherwise be isolated, purified
or enriched or even synthesized in vitro, then mixed with fats to produce plant
milk. In this case, the resulting plant milk ultimately does not contain
insoluble solids, or any of the mouthfeel disadvantages associated with the insoluble
solids.
Bacteria
of one or several sources are also added to the plant milk emulsion and grown
for flavor. In some embodiments, the plant milk emulsion comprises sugars from
various sources (non-dairy glucose, sucrose, fructose or other sources) used to promote
the cheese microbial culture. Other ingredients may include an organic acid to adjust the plant milk pH and create the characteristic
sour taste of cheese.
In the second section of the detailed
description of the invention[0084-0094], the application discloses the process and its
variations of curdling plant milk. In general, the process invoked comprises denaturing the plant proteins or crosslinking them with a transglutaminase enzyme to form curds.
The application describes all the different sorts of transglutaminase, their source
or production, and the quantities that can be used to induce curdling of plant
milk. Denaturation processes of plant proteins to form curds, such as heat, the
adjunction of solvents or acids, or other agents, are also briefly described.
In the third section of the detailed
description of the invention[0095-0111], the application discloses the processes for
transforming plant milk curds to cheese replicas, including reference to the
more detailed cheese replica compositions found in the patent application Examples. The processes
described are borrowed from ancestral processing of dairy curds,
including cutting, draining, forming, pressing, waxing, aging, scalding, smoking,
salting or ripening. Interestingly, the application points out that, because the
cheese replicas contain no dairy, production does not necessarily have to be associated
with dairy farms or dairy producing regions. In turn, the planned location of production facilities might be designed to reduce transportation costs of the cheese replicas, and consequently the extent of their energy
footprint.
In the fourth section of the detailed description of the invention[0112-0128], the uses of the cheese replicas disclosed are described as suitable for both animal and human consumption, as well as veterinary purposes. For animal consumption, cheese
replicas may be used as treats. For veterinary uses, the cheese replicas may include medication. For human
consumption, the cheese replicas are designed to look, taste and smell like all varieties of real
cheese (e.g.; cheddar, goat, cream cheese, yogurts, etc.), in such a way that a human
might not be able to distinguish between the real cheese and the replica. In
other instances, the cheese replicas are marked explicitly with "no lactose" information intended specifically for people intolerant to lactose. The application also describes
the various criteria according to which cheese replicas might be evaluated, and rated, in
comparison to real cheese, for the purposes of improving the replicas.
The abstract of this invention is included below together with
patent Figures 7, 8 and 9, respectively showing a soft ripe cheese replica (Fig. 7), a
waxed cheese replica (Fig. 8) and two goat cheese replicas (Fig. 9), A with black pepper, and B
with chives.
Provided herein are methods
and compositions for the production of cheese replicas. Generally the cheese
replicas are produced by inducing the enzymatic curdling of non-dairy milks. [Abstract US20140127358A1]
Figure 7 - Soft ripe cheese replica
Figure 8: Waxed cheese replica
Figure 9: Two goat cheese replicas,
A with black pepper and B with chives
________
Vegan or not, if you cannot envision life
without cheese, and you have dietary restrictions that exclude the consumption of cheese, then
Impossible™ cheese might just be your salvation. However, in July 2019, the
more complex issue is finding Impossible™ Cheese, considering that the company
is strategicallyfocused on rolling out
Impossible™ burgers first. So, hang in there for the Impossible™ faux brie,
faux camembert, faux cheddar, faux goat crotins, faux Gouda or faux Swiss, you are craving for! Inventions
take time to make their way to market.
Extracted from Jørgen Leth (1982) documentary 66 Scenes from America
If you would like to test drive the Impossible™ Burger 2.0, click here to find restaurants near you! References Impossible Foods Inc. https://impossiblefoods.com/ Jørgen Leth (1982) 66 Scenes from America [66 Scener fra Amerika]. Documentary (42 minutes). The Danish Film Institute.
Patented meat? Impossible! Yes, Impossible™ Meat! Indeed, even
Impossible™ Whoppers® at Burger King®!
Faux meat is in. A shortage even exists as Impossible™ Burgers are
now being rolled out nationally, tasting even better than the real deal per the
crowds (Vigdor, 2019).
Such news is heartening on several counts. First, it is a huge and long-awaited
breakthrough for animal rights activists and the animals whose heart-wrenching causes they
defend. Secondly, the popularity of faux burgers is precisely what the
founder of Impossible Foods, Inc., intended to do when he set out to design
plant-based meat that not only appealed to vegetarians, but to everyone, even
traditional meat-loving, burger, and hot dog-eating folks. Thirdly, it is
probably also a significant victory for Public Health officials who continue to recommend, in 2019,
using red meat sparingly (like butter) due to contents high in saturated fat
considered harmful for human health (Shao et. al., 2017; Skerrett & Willett, 2010). Fourthly, given the global warming costs
of agriculture’s high energy footprint, in part due to livestock production, top-of-the-charts
plant-based food is welcome (USEPA). Finally, considering all the unprecedented
possibilities of a company called Impossible
Foods Inc., selling trademarked Impossible™
Burgers to the nation’s biggest fast-food chains, this is a gambit on a grand
scale.
However, none of the above is really too surprising when you find
out that Impossible Foods Inc., was founded by Dr. Patrick Brown, an Emeritus
Stanford Professor and Pediatrician. Who would care more for everyone’s health
-- including non-human creatures, whether by design or as a natural corollary?
Impossible Foods, Inc., introduced the company’s Impossible™ Burger
2.0at CES 2019, where the burger won
both everyone’s tastebuds and the best technology innovation at the Convention.
Just in case you are wondering, Impossible™ Burger 1.0 was wheat protein-based,
whereas Impossible™ Burger 2.0 is now soy protein-based. CES 2019 is the
largest Consumer Electronics Show in the US, held at the beginning of each year in Las Vegas, CA.
Impossible™ Burgers 2.0 are purported to contain just 4 ingredients:
soy-protein, flavors, binders and fat. Impossible
Foods Inc., not only produces faux beef, it is also researching and developing
faux chicken, faux fish and faux porc. Beef just happens to be the most
strategic. Indeed, the company’s goal is
to completely replace the use of
animals as food technology by 2035.
Impossible Foods Inc.,plant-based meat is genetically engineered food technology
that is highly patented. The patented faux meat that really replicates the desirable properties of burgers such as the
texture, appearance and sensory aspects of cooking and eating, including
fibrousness, heterogeneity, beefy flavor, and red to brown transition with aromas during
cooking, is recited in the US patent US10172380B2,
titled Ground meat replicas. A US patent
with an uncommon, extraordinarily long and detailed, list of “References cited”
(INID Code 56). The list of cited references includes US patents, foreign
patents (CA, EP, DE, GB, JP, KR, RU, SU and WO) and other publications, consisting of a six-page, single-spaced, two-column list of journal articles,
reports, reviews, chapters, journal article translations, conference
presentations, videos and web pages, in scrambled order. Thus, the 34-page
patent document appears almost one-third references cited.
The Impossible Foods Inc., invention arises in a problematic background of
plant-based meat that neglects to capture the experience of eating and cooking
meat. In other words, a background where existing pre-cooked plant-based meat
omits to replicate such items as mouthfeel and the aromas of cooking meat. Indeed, it is assumed that these are the
reasons why regular meat lovers cannot be won over to the faux meat camp.
The patent recites several formulas for plant-based ground meat
compositions which have the desirable properties of mouthfeel and cooking
aromas of real meat, including the use of flavorings to give the plant-based
meat dough its beefy flavor, while also removing any plant flavor residues. The patent also describes the methods for
producing the ground meat replica compositions. For example, the patent describes in detail how to produce the cooked or raw cucumber or
Honeydew melon slurries, alternatively varying sorts of vegetable juice,
vegetable purée, vegetable extract, fruit juice, fruit purée or fruit extract,at a 0.0001% to 10% concentration of the meat replica, which will be added to a gelled matrix and used to increase meatiness and fattiness of the meat replicas, after being heated to a temperature ranging from 60◦C to 100◦C.
Among the composition ingredients, the patent discloses plant-based proteins selected according to the temperature at which they gel or
denature, precisely so that they can replicate the mouthfeel of meat, or the
particular firming that occurs during cooking, when water is released. One of the
compositions described comprises meat dough (45 to 60% by weight),
carbohydrate-based gel (10 to 25% by weight), fat (10 to 15% by weight), a
flavoring agent (3 to 7% by weight) and a binding agent (2 to 10% by weight).
Optionally the composition may contain a heme-containing protein (e.g.
leghemoglobin from soybean, pea or cowpea) as a coloring agent mimicking real meat “blood”.
In general, the method of making the ground beef replicas comprises
the steps of heating the meat dough, comprising a plant protein, and optionally an
edible fibrous component, flavorings and fat, to a temperature ranging from 150◦F to 250◦F, then combining the dough with a fat, and then with a
carbohydrate-based gel, an optional binding agent and iron salt or complex, comprising
the heme moiety, and flavors, each step comprising many variations in terms of
ingredients.
For example, the plant protein is recited as possibly including "wheat gluten, a
dehydrin protein, an albumen, a globulin or a zein, or mixtures thereof." The fibrous
component may include plant fibers from "carrot, bamboo, pea, potato, broccoli,
sweet potato, corn, whole grains, alfalfa, kale, celery, celery root, parsley,
cabbage, green beans, kidney beans, black beans, red beans, white beans, cauliflower,
nuts, apple skins, oats or psyllium or mixtures thereof." The fat can be
an "algal oil, a fungal oil, corn oil, olive oil, soy oil, peanut oil,
walnut oil, almond oil, sesame oil, cottonseed oil, rapeseed oil, canola
oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil, palm oil, palm kernel
oil, coconut oil, babassu oil, shea butter [...]; or margarine or other hydrogenated
fats." The flavoring agentscan be selected from a group consisting of "a
vegetable extract, fruit extract, an acid, an antioxidant, a carotenoid, a
lactone, and combinations thereof."
Some of the ingredients recited are chemical compounds, no longer recognizable as food. For example, the lactones added at
concentrations of 10-3 to 10-11 of the food product for
the purposes of masking residue plant flavors, are recited as selected from a group consisting of:
Likewise for ingredients and processes used to replicate "real blood" and color transitions during cooking, recited for the iron complex, and the various heme-containing proteins (or polypeptides), and their possible recombinant production.
The formulations for ground meat replicas, recited in this patent, incorporate
other previously disclosed Impossible Foods Inc., faux animal products, such as cheese replicas,
recited in the patent application US20140127358, titledMethods and compositions for consumablesand the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) publication WO2014110540,titled Non-dairy cheese replica comprising a coacervate;
and various sorts of meat replicas, such as faux ground beef, faux ground chicken, faux ground turkey, faux ground lamb or faux ground pork, recited in the patent application US20140193547, titled Methods and compositions for consumables, and PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) publications WO2014110532, titledMethods and compositions for affecting the flavor and aroma profile of consumables and WO2014110539, titledMethods and compositions for consumables.
The abstract of this invention is included below, together with a Burger King Youtube® video, witnessing the patrons' disbelief.
This document relates to ground meat
replicas, and more particularly to plant - based products that mimic ground
meat, including the fibrousness, heterogeneity in texture, beefy flavor, and
red - to - brown color transition during cooking of ground meat. For example,
this document provides meat replicas that include proteins that are selected
based upon the temperature at which they gel and/or denature to mimic the
behavior and qualities of meat during cooking. [Abstract US10172380B2]
🍔
One question that arises, once you have won all the meat lovers into
the FDA-approved Impossible™faux meat camp, is whether vegetarians might follow suit. Not
all vegetarians, eschewing meat, seek plant-based imitations or faux meat (Bee, 2019). Vegetarian
cuisine, with the fairly recent participation of France’s most famous,
Michelin-starred chefs, has long embraced the plant-based world -- in its own right -- without needing to satisfy cravings for meat, stepping back to
imitate animal-based technologies (Labro, 2015, 2016; Branciard, 2016; Libération 2018). Why endorse
meat textures, flavors, and mouthfeel, when there is a satisfying world of tantalizing tastes, surprises and endless creativity in the immensely varied world of
vegetables? Why go back, and choose faux meat that tastes like real meat?
At the end of the day, however, the vegetarian segment of the
population is hardly at stake. Some vegetarians may increase newly engineered Impossible™faux
meat sales, but not all. What is more interesting is that vegetarians might
welcome a new powerful ally, addressing non-vegetarians and meat-yearning vegetarians.
An ally who seeks to radically change the playing field of food technologies,
by eliminating animal-based food technologies completely, offering instead faux meat, indistinguishable from real meat, even better than the real fare.
Shao, A. et. al (2017) Optimal nutrition and the ever-changing dietary
landscape: A conference report. European Journal of Nutrition. DOI: 10.1007/s00394-017-1460-9
Skerrett, P.J. & W.C. Willett (2010) - Essentials of healthy eating: A guide. National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine. Journal of Midwifery Women's Health DOI: 10.1016/j.jmwh.2010.06.019
