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Interviews: Ask the Hampton Creek Team About the Science and Future of Food
samzenpus writes Hampton Creek is a food technology company that makes food healthier by utilizing a specially made egg substitute in food products. The company was selected by Bill Gates to be featured on his website in a story called, The Future of Food, and has raised $30 million in funding. Hampton Creek's latest product is called, Just Cookies, which is an eggless chocolate chip cookie dough, but it is their eggless mayo that has been in the news lately. Unilever, which manufactures Hellmann's and Best Foods mayonnaise, is suing Hampton Creek claiming that the name Just Mayo is misleading to consumers. Named one of Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Brilliant Companies and one of CNBC's Top 50 Disruptors, Hampton Creek has picked up some impressive talent including the former lead data scientist at Google Maps, Dan Zigmond. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Dan and the Hampton Creek team have agreed to answer any questions you may have. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one per post.
So, what is your egg substitute made from, and how have you demonstrated it is safe for human consumption?
If the answer is "we can't tell you", or "we assume it is safe" then I can tell you many people won't go anywhere near it.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
are you kidding ?
and how much did you pay for this advertisement ?
Eggbeaters, is that you?
To really be the "future of food" there's one critical, fundamental hurdle to cross, regardless of economics, marketing, food quality, and business sense:
Net energy.
Making eggs the natural way is requires about 100x the calories in the egg in solar energy to feed the chickens, due to the metabolism of the chickens and plants involved in that process.
If your process can't beat nature, you're never going to save the world with your technology, because you're going to be less efficient than the real thing.
Can you beat nature? Hypothetically? In the future?
"Hampton Creek is a food technology company that makes food healthier by utilizing (canola oil, lemon juice and pea protein) in food products"
Is the food's improved healthfulness a fact or an assertion?
What's the status of the "egg beaters" type substitute? What's the nutritional profile - similar to egg? Is it cheaper to produce over normal eggs?
I've been vegan for a while and find scrambled tofu with some spices (especially black salt) to be a tasty substitute.
with out eggs? please don't say it because of Cholesterol
Oh hey, it's another one of those Dot Com Millionaires should be able to break the law stories.
What have you done that is more cost effective than growing a potato?
Is it vegan?
Can anyone here compare the Hampton Creek "Just Mayo" in taste and texture versus Vegenaise?
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Can you make omelettes with it?
The slashdot summary starts with the following statement "Hampton Creek is a food technology company that makes food healthier by utilizing a specially made egg substitute in food products". This statement implies that real eggs are not healthy which is not true. Real eggs, especially those that come from happy flocks of free range hens, are a super health food. Fake egg products are not healthy.
How can you operate a business which is based upon a a false premise?
Why would you call something Mayo that isn't?
Are your other product names as equally misleading?
Eggs are one of the best sources of protein, are natural and can be produced easily in a back yard chicken house. I have also read that most of the rhetoric about eggs being unhealthy has been debunked. Unless you are producing specifically for people with allergies, what's the point of an eggs substitute.
What's wrong with eating eggs? Eggs are great and tasty and cruelty free! *for the most part*
Hi, I assume you argue that "Mayo" is a different word than "Mayonnaise," so there is no problem marketing "Just Mayo" or "Chipotle Mayo" as a mayonnaise substitute (without the word "substitute" on the front of the label). How would you feel about going to the store and getting some "OJ" that had no juice from oranges? If I read a label that said "Just OJ", I would assume it had only orange juice.
How would you feel about putting an image of eggs and a cross through them or some other way to quickly identify this is eggless mayonnaise substitute, and not mayonnaise?
Might as well face it I'm addicted to data.
What evidence do you point to when making the case that a plan-based diet is less destructive to the environment compared to eating animals and animal products? The environmental impact of my food choices has been the major factor in switching to a plant-based diet, but I struggle to find concise, creditable data on the impact of my choices, specifically around the amount of energy, water, land, and green house emissions that are saved. Has Hampton Creek done anything to aggregate and present good research in this area? Can you make any specific claims or projections about the environmental impact of using your products?
You can substitute some of the component for less energetic component, like "just mayo" does : using a variety of pea instead of egg. If there are any energy cost then it will be reflected in price already. Furthermore it is really misleading, since the food we gave our animals (cow, pig, chicken, ducks) was actually either inedible left over, or pasturage which was not used for food. Who cares if it takes 10000* more energy to make a pound of beef to a pound of wheat (or whatever factor) if anyway that energy would be lost.
But frankly, I (egoistically) do not care about energy cost. I do care only about the taste. If just mayo taste better than mayonnaise, i am for it. if not, well don't put it in my plate. I would rather buy LESS of a better tasting things, than tons of crap.
There's a question I've always wanted to ask one of these food-science guys:
How far are we from being able to mass-produce foodstuffs, growing yeast or simple bacteria in a tank, converting it into a long-shelf-life shelf-stable package, and being able to print it out 3-D printer style to make lunch? Especially for those of us who cannot eat gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, etc.. It seems like the holy grail of food technology. Food replicators, but running with milliliter (or larger) droplet sizes rather than nanoliter droplet sizes to rapidly print & cook food. Kind of like a microwave, with large (replaceable) ink-cartridge-like containers on the side where you just tell it what you want, wait, and boom dinner is created, cooked, & ready to serve.
... should burn in Hell.
Is it made from people?
I call bullshit unless you're a tubby with a predisposition for heart disease who refuses to stay on either a high protein/low carb, or ketogenic, diet.
http://annals.org/article.aspx... This article is one study in a long line of studies that show that a low (40g/day) carb diet is healthier than a high carb one. how does the future of food keep diets under 40 carbs per day and still supply enough calories? assume 1200 cals for a woman and 2000 for a man. 30 cals/carb and 50 cals/carb respectively
I took notice when I saw the stories about Hellman's suing Hampton Creek. Oh, the irony, when Hellman's had to change their own marketing once they realized that they, themselves, have been using the term "mayo" to describe non-egg-containing spread!
Just Mayo is available in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods, and they have trouble keeping it in stock. It is really that delicious! Last time I took it through the check-out there was a scramble as the employees went to claim a jar once they knew it was back in.
Most shelf-stable "mayo-like" spreads you find on the shelf do not contain any egg. The thing is, it's difficult to make a shelf-stable product that contains eggs! You need to load it up with preservatives. "Real mayonnaise" on the aisle? It's kinda-mayonaise.
Yes, the pendulum has swung-back on eggs. For those (like me) who do NOT have an egg allergy or some other reason to avoid eggs, we should take another look at eggs - I have. I stopped removing half the yolks from omelets, for example. We learn a bit about food, we over-react, we learn a bit more.
Here's the ingredients for Just Mayo. Pretty short list:
- Non-GMO expeller-pressed Canola Oil
- Filtered Water
- Lemon Juice (note that "lemon juice" means "lemon juice" not some reconstituted concentrate, extract, or citric acid...)
- White vinegar
- 2% or less of the following:
- Organic sugar
- Salt
- Pea protein
- Spices
- Modified food starch
- Beta-Carotene
The only thing suspect here is the Pea protein, because I imagine it is a highly-processed ingredient. Hopefully not made in China.
They don't say, but I'd guess the modified food starch is Tapioca Maltodextrin. I have a big bucket of the stuff in my pantry. It's magic stuff.
When I want actual mayonnaise, I make my own actual mayonnaise. It's quick and easy to make up in a food processor, but of course then there's the cleanup. Egg yolk (you can pasteurize if you like easily in a sous-vide' cooker - I don't), salt, lemon juice, olive oil. You can keep it a few days, but best fresh. I wouldn't touch any of that stuff in a jar. Even in the refrigerated section, real mayonnaise is impractical to sell in a supermarket. I would not call anything that Hellman's sells "real mayonnaise", though they are allowed by law to call some of it such.
Unfortunately, most people don't know what real mayonnaise tastes like any more, and if you serve it to others they will say "what is this"? So, screw em' I reserve this for myself.
If I want to make a quick tunafish sandwich - I use Just Mayo. It tastes way better than that shelf-stable stuff from Hellman's
Eggs are a nutrition powerhouse:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/good-eggs-for-nutrition-theyre-hard-to-beat
http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/myth-eggs
With science on our side, we can once again enjoy the wonderfully nutritious egg. Along with milk, eggs contain the highest biological value (or gold standard) for protein. One egg has only 75 calories but 7 grams of high-quality protein, 5 grams of fat, and 1.6 grams of saturated fat, along with iron, vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids.
The egg is a powerhouse of disease-fighting nutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin. These carotenoids may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older adults. And brain development and memory may be enhanced by the choline content of eggs.
The real threat to high cholesterol is saturated and trans fats, not dietary cholesterol. Years ago, when scientists learned that high blood cholesterol was associated with heart disease, foods high in cholesterol were thought to be the leading cause of unhealthy blood cholesterol. Now, 25 years later, scientists have come to the conclusion that cholesterol in food is not the true villain — saturated and trans fats have a much greater effect on blood cholesterol. Your body actually needs the cholesterol in meat and eggs to make testosterone, which helps to increase energy and helps to build more calorie-building muscle. In fact, one study at the University of Connecticut found that the fat in egg yolks actually helps to reduce LDL (“bad” cholesterol). So banish the old notion that an egg, specifically the yolk, is hazardous to your health. According to the American Heart Association, the recommended limit of dietary cholesterol is 300 milligrams for people with normal LDL (bad) cholesterol levels — and one egg contains 185 milligrams of dietary cholesterol. (If you have a history of high cholesterol or heart disease in your family, though, you may want to consult your doctor about how to limit your cholesterol intake.)
Whole eggs are full of beneficial vitamins and minerals. Whole eggs are a nearly perfect food, with almost every essential vitamin and mineral our bodies need to function. It is one of the few natural food sources of vitamin D and contains 7 grams of high-quality protein. Whole eggs are also full of omega-3 fatty acids and deliver many of the B vitamins and nutrients — B6, B12, riboflavin, folate, and choline — that, in fact, are believed to help prevent heart disease. L-arginine, an amino acid found in eggs, are critical to the body's production of protein and the release of growth hormones. Another amino acid found in eggs, leucine, also helps the body produce growth hormones as well as regulate blood sugar levels. The yolk itself contains most of these vitamins and minerals, plus half of its protein. When you eat only the egg whites, you’re missing out on all of these nutritional benefits and are getting only 3.5 grams, or half, of the protein.
| In contrast, I don't have the same issue with "soy milk" or "almond milk" not being some mammal's milk
I don't know why.
Soy "milk" and Almond "milk" aren't milk. At all. They aren't even milk substitutes.
They are marketing terms for some white gunk made from soy or almond that has nothing to do with milk. Not by source, not by nutritional content, not by any stretch of the imagination.
Some people enjoy this white gunk, some people think it's beneficial in some way, and some people who can't drink milk because of allergies or other adverse reactions see it as a godsend.
But it is not milk, which is a natural, minimally-processed product that comes from mammals. Soy or Almond "milk" is a product manufactured from natural ingrediants.
Mayonnaise, on the other hand, is a manufactured product. One might argue about it's composition.
Your product offers no benefit in calorie intake compared to regular mayo and none of the nutritional benefits of mayo made with eggs. Eggs are one of the most nutritionally sound food items I can buy. As a component in other foods, they're low calorie, high protein, and chock full of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids addition. Just Mayo is also more expensive than real mayo. So tell me, why should I buy your product?
"Hampton Creek is a food technology company that makes food healthier by utilizing a specially made egg substitute in food products."
Why would an egg be unhealthy? Leaving anecdotical and not-so-anecdotical data aside, that little shell arguably contains every nutrient needed to turn a single cell into a full blown and healthy chick.
"Hampton Creek's latest product is called, Just Cookies, which is an eggless chocolate chip cookie dough"
Sounds like something sugary... That would be healthy?
Are your products available outside of the U.S.A.? Do you have any Canadian distributors/resellers?
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Eggs are one of the most perfect foods. Eggs are something anyone can produce in their own home with a chicken, or better yet, in their yard. Feed it scraps and you get free eggs. We keep about 300 chickens out on pasture. We don't have to buy any feed for them because they eat insects and other pests. The result is we get tens of thousands of nearly free eggs which are rich in protein, healthy fats and other nutrients. Corporations can't improve on eggs - they're just jealous because they can't make enough money on eggs. Accept no substitutes.
How many of the negative comments and questions do you think are made by shills for the multibillion dollar agribusiness industry? Who really gives a shit what Just Mayo is called? Who really gives a shit if people want to buy egg substitutes over eggs?
Besides human health, why might we want to consider eliminating superfluous eggs from mayo and other foods? How much land is consumed by livestock in the US and globally? To satisfy the 'back yard' and 'free range' crowd, how much MORE space would be needed in order to supply the world's demand for eggs in these flavours? What sort of demand on resources do eggs and animal products consume, especially in comparison to plant foods? What is their estimated contribution to climate change? Can you compare the resource consumption of a jar of Just Mayo and Hellmann's Mayonnaise? (How much energy consumed, space usage, emissions, etc..) Same with your egg replacement, and equivalent amount of eggs?
Full disclosure - i'm already well aware of these things, and would implore readers interested in these matters to check out a blog post i wrote covering how much land livestock already consume...you will very likely be surprised: http://blog.thevictoriavegan.com/2014/10/humane-meat-its-not-humane-for-nature.html
Could you elaborate on you decisions to completely avoid cholesterol, GMO, and "artificial" flavor?
Are these decisions based on science, marketing, policy (e.g. patents or trade restrictions)?
As far as I know cholesterol isn't bad in moderation, many "artificial" flavors are chemically indistinguishable from their "natural" counterparts, and there has been no conclusive evidence that GMOs are harmful.
Why is "[your] research is particularly focused on disrupting the global egg industry"?
Thanks for doing the interview.
Since your business is food and you spend a lot of time thinking/experimenting on it - could you put together some interesting stories, inspirational ideas, non-obvious flavor combinations, or simply your favorite recipies that many people would be unlikely to encounter?
Could everyone describe how your day-to-day work and goals are? Answers from the R&D people would be especially appreciated.
As scientists, are you ever frustrated with lack of scientific understanding of the public?
I'm a molecular biologist and am always frustrated with the negative perception of science as artificial/sterile/zombie-apocalypse-inducing/playing god in the public's eyes. Do you have any reservations about marketing towards this anti-GMO, "All natural flavor, nothing artificial" demographic in a way that caters to their anti-science perception?
Do you still believe the 1945 science that says eating cholesterol will cause you to have high cholesterol? Have you reviewed any papers since that time? Science has improved, please consider doing the same. Eat a delicious egg while you think about it.
Cookies with sugar in them? Yeah, that's healthy! Why not make an 'all natural' cola drink while you're at it and load it with 'all natural' sugar? Learn about xylitol for a healthier alternative. But, even better, stop promoting an already dangerous addiction to sweets.
It appears from your ingredient list that there is no flour in your cookies; "chocolate chip | sugar | oatmeal raisin | peanut butter" - can that be true? Flour can be as deadly as sugar and there is no healthy way to consume either for most people.
...omphaloskepsis often...