Vegan, But Not Really

Cargill is the largest privately owned company in the United States, and it’s one of the largest meat suppliers in the world.  You’ve heard of them before, right?  These are the same folks who recalled approximately 1,084,384 pounds of ground beef produced at its Wyalusing, Pa., Cargill Regional Beef facility because of the possible presence of E. coli in 2007.

Now the exclusive supplier of eggs to McDonald’s, U.S., is introducing a vegan “cheese.” It’s called Lygomme™ ACH Optimum- I know, sounds yummy.  Any animal saved is worth any effort, but, needless to say, this move was not motivated by a sense of compassion toward anything but the bottom line.

“But the cheese topping on a pizza can make up around 15 per cent of the overall recipe cost, so a sudden change in the price of cheese can leave manufacturers with higher input costs…

In order to protect their margins, manufacturers have traditionally had to choose between raising pizza prices, limiting portion sizes, or using a blend of different cheeses depending on their current market value…

To get around this problem, Cargill has developed a new functional system called Lygomme ACH Optimum. Made from three starches, a galactomannan and a gelling carrageenan, it is said to allow for imitation or processed cheeses (analogues) that contain no dairy proteins at all – and are therefore immune to price rises.”

Like I said, any animal saved is worth any effort.  But Cargill doesn’t give a <hoot> about saving animals- they kill animals for profit.  And large corporations like Cargill don’t overlook market trends, no matter how small they appear.

“Marketing benefits

The complete removal of all dairy elements allows pizza manufacturers to make some claims that tap into some of the pressing trends in foods, too.

For instance, the absence of dairy ingredients means a product can be declared lactose-free or suitable for vegans.”

It’s unclear whether this Cargill Lygomme cheese will be available to individual comsumers, but your money clip is a powerful tool in your arsenal for saving lives.  You looking for a vegan “cheese?”  Spend your drachmas with Redwood Foods, a VEGAN company and the makers of Cheezly.  Another truly vegan option is Daiya Vegan Cheese.  Don’t forget that you, yes, you, yourself, can make a myriad of “cheese-like” fixins in your food processor with nuts– yes, nuts, rich and tasty nuts.