Mark Barnes, one of Paster Training's retail food safety
instructors and an experienced chef, wrote a post regarding plant-based
products. These products have been around for many years, but have recently
exploded into food service due to the improved texture, eye appeal, and
appreciable improvement in taste. One company, in particular, worked on gaining
approval of a protein color additive from the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). The company found that heme is what makes meat taste like meat and draw people to the flavor of the meat.
Soy leghemoglobin was created from part of the soybean
plant to recreate the flavor and appearance of heme. The company submitted
studies to the FDA. On August 1, 2019, the FDA published its final rule that
placed soy leghemoglobin on the safe list (GRAS) of color additives. You can
find it here.
There were also questions if the new color additive was
considered an allergen. Based off of the research article the FDA stated that:
The allergenicity of soy
leghemoglobin protein and residual yeast proteins was addressed in safety
studies that included digestibility assays in simulated gastric fluid,
bioinformatic analyses, and animal feeding studies. The totality of evidence
presented in the color additive petition indicated that there is a reasonable
certainty that soy leghemoglobin protein and P. pastoris yeast
proteins do not pose any unique allergenicity risks when consumed [emphasis
added]
The FDA also stated that:
Furthermore,
under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA),
which added section 403(w) to the FD&C Act (21 U.S.C. 343(w)), the label of a food that contains an
ingredient that is or contains protein from a “major food allergen” must
declare the presence of the allergen in the manner described by the law. As
stated in the findings of FALCPA in section 202(2)(A), the major food allergens
identified in the FD&C Act account for over 90 percent of all documented
food allergies in the United States and represent foods that are likely to
result in life-threatening reactions. Because soybeans are identified as a
major food allergen, foods that contain soy leghemoglobin must be labeled
accordingly. Yeast protein has not been identified as a major food allergen.
When looking at several
plant-based meatless products, such as a chicken style breast, the manufacturer
states that the product should be heated to 165°F. A meatless beef style
crumble is to be heated to 165°F and Beyond meat, beef crumbles says to have a
pan on medium heat and add frozen crumbles then stir for 3 minutes. The
packaging does not provide a temperature. The Beyond burger recommends cooking
the plant-based product about 4 minutes on each side but always cook to an
internal temperature of 165°F. Finally, the impossible burger states to cook
their 1/4 lb. patty 5-6 minutes on each side and it is fully cooked at 160°F.
I went onto the Impossible
website and the tips and tricks first
say to have your cooking surface well-oiled and heat to medium-high. The site
states that the Impossible burger cooks like ground beef so when cooking a
burger, only cook it for 2-3 minutes on each side and there is no internal
temperature provided.
For Retail
The other area I wanted to look
into was the proper cooking temperature of this product in the retail
foodservice arena. According to the FDA Model Food Code of 2017 in 3-401.13, plant food that is cooked and
held is to be heated to 135°F. A burger could be held, but is suggested on various
web sites to serve it soon after cooking. According to the code, we cook meat
hamburgers to 155°F for 17 seconds to achieve regulatory compliance. We
understand that both meat and non-meat burgers need Time & Temperature to
Control for Safety (TCS) and the plant-based burgers are a TCS food due to
their water activity (aw) being slightly
less than beef but with the acidity (pH) being just below natural [1]. The recent research paper
suggests that due to the lower pH of 5.48 of the beef burger versus the 6.6 of
the plant burger increases the growth potential of the pathogens studied[2]. Finally, the paper states
that further research is needed on the behavior of the pathogens in plant
burgers. There is a great deal of information with the study and it is obvious
there needs to be more information gathered before putting this topic to bed.
As stated earlier, current regulations state
to cook plant food to 135°F when holding. The research study appears to suggest
that higher temperatures are potentially needed. I called the Department of
Agriculture in my area and was told they are also questioned about plant-based
food and do not have an answer. They reached out to the Retail Food Specialist
at FDA. The response was “until changes are made to the food code or other
guidance becomes available, commercially processed food would be heated to
135°F for hot holding or since veggie burgers are vegetable/plant foods they
would be heated to 135°F for hot holding. If vegetable/plant food is cooked to
order and served immediately, it could be heated to any temperature”.
I am sure there will be a lot
more discussion on this topic and it appears there needs to be additional time
and temperature cooking studies performed on the plant-based foods of today.
Until then, one can follow the manufacturers cooking instructions for the
consumer on the manufacturer's packaging or the FDA’s minimum internal cooking
temperature prescribed in the current Model Food Code.
This blog is not intended to be a substitute for the user's judgement and common sense. Any errors are unintentional.
[1]
Luchansky, J. B.,
Shoyer, B. A., Jung, Y., Shane, L. E., Osoria, M., & Porto-Fett, A. C.
(2020, February 13). Viability of Shiga TOxin-Producting Escherichia coli,
Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes within Plant verses Beef Burgers during
Cold Storage and following Pan Frying. Journal of Food Protection, 83(3,20),
434-442. doi:https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-19-449