The shelf of meat substitutes has grown considerably in recent years. Great, because this makes eating less meat a lot easier and tastier. But many meat substitutes are not as healthy as they seem. For example, many vegetarian burgers and vegetable sausages contain saturated fats, sugars and, above all, a lot of salt. We make choosing a little easier and recommend a number of meat substitutes that – in terms of salt – fit within the guidelines of the Nutrition Center.
Good to know: this does not mean that these meat substitutes are immediately the healthiest choice. The options below may still contain too many saturated fats, added sugars or too few good nutrients such as proteins and vitamin B12.
Replace meat with less salt
The Nutrition Center guideline for the amount of salt in meat substitutes is a maximum of 450 mg sodium per 100 grams. This is equivalent to 1.1 grams of salt per 100 grams. To make it a little easier for you, we list a number of meat substitutes that meet this requirement.
Garden Gourment Sensational Burger: this burger contains 0.74 g salt per 100 grams. The burger also contains more than enough protein. Does that make this burger the best choice? Unfortunately, the burger contains too many saturated fats and does not meet the guidelines for iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin B1.
Beyond Meat burger: this popular burger is almost indistinguishable from a real burger. But how healthy is this burger? Although this burger contains little salt (0.75 g per 100 grams) and sufficient protein, the burger also contains too much saturated fat and the meat substitute does not meet the iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin B1 guidelines.
Jumbo Vegan Crispy Chicken Schnitzel: this vegetarian chicken schnitzel from Jumbo contains little salt – despite the fact that the name crispy schnitzel suggests otherwise. Namely 0.96 g per 100 grams. In addition, the schnitzel also meets most other guidelines for meat substitutes. The only downside: the schnitzel contains added sugars.
Like Meat Chicken Bites: The Like Chicken Bites from Like Meat contain 0.9 grams of salt per 100 grams. Furthermore, the chicken pieces contain virtually no saturated fatty acids and added sugars and this product contains more than enough proteins. The only disadvantage? Vitamin B1, vitamin B12 and iron are missing.
AH Vegan field beans chopped: this vegetarian minced meat from Albert Heijn meets the guidelines of the Nutrition Center with 1.08 grams of salt per 100 grams. This minced meat contains vitamin B1, vitamin B12 and iron and sufficient proteins. Per 100 grams, the product contains 2.3 grams of saturated fats and no added sugars. This product therefore meets all requirements.
Want to taste your burger yourself?
In addition to this handy list of meat substitutes that contain little salt, it is even more useful to check your meat substitutes yourself. How do you do that? Look at the back of the packaging and check whether the meat substitute meets the following guidelines:
No added sugars (check this article to read how to spot added sugars on a label) Maximum 2.9g saturated fat per 100g Minimum 0.8mg iron per 100g Minimum 0.06mg vitamin B1 per 100g Minimum 0.24mcg vitamin B12 per 100g Maximum 1.1 grams of salt per 100g. Minimum 20 energy percent protein
Calculating with proteins
How do you calculate the energy percentage of protein? Take the number of proteins per 100 grams and multiply it by 4 (1 gram of protein contains 4 calories). The resulting number must be at least 20% of the total number of calories per 100 grams. For example: suppose a burger contains 120 calories per 100 grams and 10 grams of protein. Then the burger contains 40 calories of protein (10 times 4). Converted, this is 33% energy percent of proteins (40 divided by 120 times 100%).
Would you rather cook without meat substitutes? In this article we recommend some delicious vegetarian recipes.
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2023-11-10 23:01:59
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