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.
As of 2003 most Dutch supermarkets sell a wide range of imitation meat products.
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.
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