A new study from the University of Illinois and Colorado State University aims to help people better understand protein quality in beef, pork and plant-based burgers.
Plant-based burgers often promise protein levels comparable to burgers made from meat. However, the expression of protein on nutrition labels can be misleading since the human body does not use “protein” in and of itself, but rather the essential amino acids present in proteins.
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So how did the burgers stack up? The study utilized the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) developed by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which focuses on the digestibility of essential amino acids. Both beef and pork burgers scored as “excellent” protein sources (DIAAS scores of 100-plus) for people of all ages. The Impossible Burger also scored as an “excellent” protein source for ages 3 and up, but not for children under 3. The Beyond Burger scored a value of 83, indicating a “good” protein source for ages 3 and up. The study also found you need to eat 15% more of one of the plant-based burgers with a bun to get the same amount of digestible amino acids compared to eating beef- or pork-based burgers.
“If you have to eat more, that means you also get more calories,” says one of the two researchers on the project.
To learn more about the study, visit aces.Illinois.edu.
