mmmm exactly what i want in my burger "Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found in 40% of the beef patties tested. One contained genuinely pathogenic bacteria. The vegan patties? Zero contaminants."
this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2026
146 points (96.8% liked)
Vegan
3592 readers
9 users here now
An online space for the vegans of Lemmy.
Rules and miscellaneous:
- We take for granted that if you engage in this community, you understand that veganism is about the animals. You either are vegan for the animals, or you are not (this is not to say that discussions about climate/environment/health are not allowed, of course)
- No omni/carnist apologists. This is not a place where to ask to be hand-holded into veganims. Omnis coddling/backpatting is not tolerated, nor are /r/DebateAVegan-like threads
- Use content warnings and NSFW tags for triggering content
- Circlejerking belongs to /c/vegancirclejerk
- All posts should abide by Lemmy's Code of Conduct
founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
^where was this quote from? I didn't see that in this article.
Thanks!
Zero contaminants in a highly processed food tells me that the processing facility is maintained better, unrelated to flavor
I just want fat and off putting smell in my burger
Great news for vegan community. I hope other countries will do the same.
"Some beef patties, meanwhile, showed up with off-putting smells, flat flavors, and shelf-life issues."
Hmm, I really wonder why 💁
A better shelf life is cool but has absolutely nothing to do with actually tasting better
Was it a head to head comparison? The article looks a bit out of context
Generally, how these Stiftung Warentest tests work is that they a pick a product category, like here patties, then they come up with disciplines to rate them in and then they grade each product accordingly.
Some of the disciplines here were (translated by me):
- sensory rating
- nutritional-physiological quality
- microbiological quality
- user friendliness of packaging
I would assume that they did a blind taste test and all that jazz, too. It is their business model to sell the data to industry, investors etc., so if their methodology wasn't up to snuff, they'd be out of business pretty quickly.
The article is totally unsupported by the test then as it says it is only about taste.
I am very confused. Are we seeing same article? @Captain_Buddha@lemmy.world below also seemed to not see a direct quote from the article.
Here's the part of the article describing the results that I see:
The result
Vegan patties came out on top, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Overall rating
Seven out of ten plant-based patties rated “good.” Only three out of ten beef patties did.
The three top-scoring burgers came from Aldi MyVay, Garden Gourmet, and Beyond — and they were all vegan.
This is a dramatic reversal from the last time this test was run in 2021, when meat still held the edge. The improvement in plant-based products over just a few years has been remarkable.
Fats
Vegan patties averaged 43% less fat and 20% fewer calories than their beef counterparts — and the fat they do contain skews toward the healthy, unsaturated kind, while beef patties lean heavily on saturated fat.
Taste
Plant-based options scored better on average for seasoning, juiciness, and overall cooking results. Some beef patties, meanwhile, showed up with off-putting smells, flat flavors, and shelf-life issues.
Food safety
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found in 40% of the beef patties tested. One contained genuinely pathogenic bacteria. The vegan patties? Zero contaminants.
Price
The vegan patties were, on average, 20% cheaper than beef. And that’s before accounting for the massive government subsidies that artificially deflate the price of conventional meat. Without those subsidies, the gap would be even wider.
load more comments
(4 replies)
The beef in burgers is never really important to the taste, other than the fact that it's savoury. Mushrooms could just as easily fill the role (texture aside).
Throw some algae in there, and you've got a stew going!
Dead wrong
Murder is wrong.
Correct, but completely unrelated to the claims presented here
Mmm, beet beef
(I read it as Vegan Burgers Are Just Beet Beef at first glance lol)
The big thing to consider is that this is comparing the vegan burgers against the pre-made frozen patties, which is probably the only way to do it. I have always considered those pre-made patties pretty "meh" so it doesn't surprise me at all that impossible or beyond can beat them. My daughter is a vegetarian so we buy the impossible beef fairly often, and it is the only brand I've tried that is actually very close to actual beef. I've made chili and "meat" sauce with it and it comes out quite fine.
I had always said that if they could get the price lower than actual beef they'd likely so really well. I just hadn't anticipated that happening because beef prices went through the roof.
IMO none of the vegan brands are as good tasting as higher quality fresh ground beef from a meat department or butcher, but some are easily a match for any of the boxed frozen patties.
That's an unfair comparison. Here's how to make it fair: The department stores and local stores could easily use peas instead of meat and it would improve the taste. Since vegan burger patties already have the edge when frozen, they surely would be even better when fresh. The stores just have to up their game and learn how to do it.
Seven out of ten plant-based patties rated “good.”
Good in what?
I looked at the page of the original study (locked behind a paywall, sadly), and the indications seem positive. I guess I'll have to find a good-quality vegan patty soon enough. I'm very sceptical of "vegan beef" being a tasty replacement, but we'll see.
Vegan patties are a bit of a mixed bag. Don't get discouraged by not liking one. If you like burger king, try beyond burger. It's been a long time aince i ate meat, but that's exactly what i remember the taste like. If the patty is really cheap and looks "compressed" and has not much rexture, maybe atay away. I mean maybe you like it but damn, for me it's rough. Beyond beef also has minced meat now, which my girlfriend doesn't like because it tastes too much like beef.
I think going in expecring exactly what you are used roo is the wrong approach. We are creatures of habit, and sometimes it takes some time to break that habit. My nephew is a really picky eater and since he knows i don't eat meat, he's always sceptic. Once i made him nuggets and he was like: what are these? Not chicken i assume. I told him no, they are not chicken, they are from a cuban bird, he never ate, so he ate it and loved it. Which is in a way kind of sick, knowing he wouldn't have eaten them if he knew it wasn't some random animal, instead of something else. Like i don't miss meat at all, but even if i could pick now a good vegan burger and a good normal burger without it being problematic or whatnot, i would pick the vegan burger every time. It's also way easier to prepare, and way harder to fuck up, they are just always juicier.
Completely unsurprising that they beat the frozen cow anuses they try to pass as burgers tbh
Why are they trying to be fake meat anyway? Vegan substitutes rarely compare quite as well but honestly they'd be way better if they stopped trying to imitate something they're not and did more to stand up on their own. All the good vegan food I've had was just being its own thing.
I imagine, they mainly don't want to compete with the plethora of cheap+good vegan protein options: lentils, beans, chickpeas, nuts, tofu, tempeh, seitan, TVP, hummus, falafel etc.
Faking meat works as a market, because folks often just want what they're used to, and then you're primarily competing against real meat, which is much more expensive, so you can excuse quite a large profit margin.
view more: next ›