It’s not exactly the best time to present ultra-processed food as healthy and delicious, but that’s exactly what two major plant-based meat producers are trying to do.

Beyond Meat wants to convince people that its vegan versions of meat products are good for you. So does its competitor, Impossible Foods, which recently changed the color of its packaging from green to blood red, in order to attract the attention of carnivores.

Last year, Beyond Meat reformulated some products to reduce saturated fat and sodium and simplify its ingredient list. Impossible Foods launched a “health center” and rebranded to emphasize delicious meatiness. Both companies’ products are considered healthy by the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association.

It’s all part of an effort to reverse declining sales of plant-based meats at a time when industrially produced foods with long lists of ingredients have come under increasing scrutiny. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, Democrat, ordered the demolition of ultra-processed foods, new research has shown a link between ultra-processed food and adverse health effects, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald J. Trump’s pick for health secretary, has criticized processed foods.

Plant-based meats are ultra-processed, but not necessarily unhealthy, according to several experts. The products generally have less saturated fat, no cholesterol and more fiber than animal meat, and no hormones or antibiotics.

An analysis several dozen studies published last year in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology found that compared to meat, plant-based alternatives “generally range from roughly neutral to beneficial,” said Matthew Nagra, a naturopathic doctor in British Columbia who led the review.

The studies found no evidence that some of the “concerning aspects” of plant-based meat, such as food processing and higher sodium, outweigh the potential cardiovascular benefits of eating meat instead of animal meat, he said.

Health and nutrition concerns are among the main reasons people seek out plant-based meats, and Beyond Meats and Impossible Foods want to distance themselves from the label of ultra-processed food, or at least add nuance. Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, said the company’s method for extracting proteins from legumes and turning them into meat-like products simply bypassed the use of animals as intermediaries.

“It’s a beautiful process that comes directly from the soil and from the farm in a way that CAFOs or factory-raised animals are not,” he said, using an acronym for concentrated animal feeding operations.

If plant-based meats must be categorized as processed foods, the argument is that they are more like canned beans than Twinkies, far from processed meats, a category that includes hot dogs, bacon and deli meats, which World Health Organization is classified as a human carcinogen.

“Processed, if you really want to look at it from a food perspective, means very artificial and very little nutritional value,” said Peter McGuinness, CEO of Impossible Foods.

“We are a nutrient-dense product,” he continued. “It’s not the traditional definition of processed.”

It remains to be seen whether more consumers will be swayed. In recent years, the plant-based food sector has experienced a decline.

Five years ago, it seemed that protein alternatives were poised to take over the primacy of red meat by offering an option that was healthier, more ethical and better for the climate. The market has since shrunk and a shadow hangs over the sector, in large part due to the Beyond Meat saga. Since the company went public in a blaze of glory in 2019, its stock price has fallen from $234 to less than $4 per share, and the company is more than $1 billion in debt.

Mr Brown blamed attacks from the meat and livestock antibiotic industry and criticism from whole food purists. Plant-based meats were also increasingly seen as “woke,” while a series of flashy ads linked to former tobacco lobbyist and public relations strategist Richard Berman characterized the products as chemically laden. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of plant-based meat consumers who believed the products were healthy fell from 50 percent to 38 percent, according to FMI, the Food Industry Association, a trade group.

Mr McGuinness said the sector was also probably overheated and overhyped, causing other companies to rush in with inferior products that failed, prompting critics to say plant-based meat was a fad.

Impossible Foods, which is privately held, is on a more secure footing than Beyond Meat. Mr McGuinness said it was “on the road to profitability”, with a strong balance sheet and no debt. Still, it faces similar challenges as Beyond Meat in trying to win over meat eaters, the vast majority of whom have never tried plant-based products.

“I think this is one of the biggest communication challenges in the history of business,” said Mr. McGuinness.

Compared to meat, the market for plant-based alternatives is relatively small. Plant-based meat and seafood accounted for $1.2 billion in retail sales in the United States in 2023, compared with $100 billion for conventional meat and seafood, according to the Good Food Institute, a research organization. And global meat consumption is growing.

Emma Ignaszewski, senior associate director of the Good Food Institute, said the expansion of the plant-based sector depends on consumer priorities and how quickly companies can innovate, improve taste and lower price – plant-based meats can cost at least twice as much as their animal counterparts.

“Growth is not inevitable,” Ms. Ignaszewski said. However, she said the survey showed that the majority of young consumers in 10 countries plan to spend more on plant-based products in the future due to concerns about health, sustainability, animal welfare and climate change. Plant-based alternatives have an average 11 percent environmental impact than meat, according to the Good Food Institute.

Beyond Meat hopes its reformulated burgers and beef, which include more legumes and avocado oil, will help silence critics and win over consumers. The company consulted with Joy Bauer, registered dietitian and nutritionist, et al. Matthew Lederman, co-author of the books “Fork Above Knives Plan” and “Whole Food Diet”. Both said the purpose of plant-based meats is to provide healthier options when people crave burgers.

“For most people, myself included, putting beans and lentils on a hamburger bun just won’t satisfy that need,” said Dr. Lederman. When his patients replaced plant-based meat with red meat, they often made lifestyle changes, such as exercising more and eating more vegetables, he said. “It catalyzes the transformation of healthier living,” he said.

dr. Lederman also challenged the perception that conventional meat is natural; estimated 99 percent Most farmed animals in the US live in factory farms.

“They feed them abnormal food,” he said, referring to cattle raised on factory farms. “They put them in abnormal conditions. They are pumped with hormones and antibiotics. They are in these small, confined areas. Their bodies are flooded with stress hormones.”

Not all will be won. Michael Pollan, the influential author who once urged people not to eat foods their great-grandmothers wouldn’t recognize, critical vegetable meat. Mr. Pollan declined to comment for this article.

Marion Nestle, professor emeritus of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, said herbal products are still ultra-processed and long-term studies of their effects are needed. Still, she allowed that there are probably relative benefits. “I’m sure it’s environmentally better than beef, that’s all,” she said. “My prediction would be that if you don’t eat beef and eat this instead, you’ll do better than people who eat beef.”

Even if more consumers are engrossed in its products, Beyond Meat’s challenges remain enormous. The company reported revenue growth in the third financial quarter of 2024. But John Baumgartner, consumer food analyst at Mizuho Americas, a financial services group, said the growth was driven by increased prices and that Beyond Meat shares were unlikely to recover. He also said that while Beyond Meat worked to improve its burger, Impossible Foods likely benefited from launching a wider range of products, including fake chicken options.

It is significant that with their latest messages, both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods downplayed the climate benefits of their products compared to meat, which is the main driver of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and water pollution. Under the leadership of Mr McGuinness, Impossible Foods sends the message “delicious and nutritious”. “When you cover that, then you can talk about the climate, but people are also quite selfish,” he said.