Imitation meat

Imitation meat refers to any vegetarian food product designed to imitate[?] the flavour and texture[?] of meat.

In the United States, the most common technology for producing imitation meats involves textured vegetable protein[?] (TVP), a dry bulk commodity[?] derived from soy.

"Quorn" is the trade name for an mycoprotein[?]-based imitation meat product made from microorganisms. There was controversy relating to its maker's characterisation of this organism as "a relative of the mushroom". Opponents of this description have stated that this microorganism is correctly described as a mold or fungus.

Imitation meats have a long history in Chinese Buddhist cuisine. Tofu, tempeh[?] and seitan[?] are sometimes considered imitation meats in the West, though technically they are not as their usefulness as meat substitutes[?] is more incidental than intentional.

Note: The terms synthetic meat and artificial meat are ambiguous, as they may refer to either imitation meat, or laboratory-grown meat.

See also

• Gluten
• Chinese Buddhist cuisine