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Interviews: Ask the Hampton Creek Team About the Science and Future of Food 145

Posted by samzenpus from the go-ahead-and-ask dept.
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.
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Interviews: Ask the Hampton Creek Team About the Science and Future of Food More

Interviews: Ask the Hampton Creek Team About the Science and Future of Food

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  • 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.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by The Rizz ( 1319 )

      So, what is your egg substitute made from, and how have you demonstrated it is safe for human consumption?

      Too lazy to Google it yourself?

      "The plant that replaces the egg in Just Mayo is a specific variety of the Canadian yellow pea (a type of split pea)."

    • I was wondering the same thing.

      And by the way..what's wrong with eating an EGG?

      Simple, natural food. I'd rather have that than a bunch of man- made chemicals. I'm currently trying to get rid of most of the chemicals man puts into things these days....and it ain't easy.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Punko ( 784684 )
        Well, my son has a rather nasty allergy to egg protein (yolk and white), so cookie dough that doesn't include eggs is one of those bonus things. Sadly, most things that act as a 1:1 substitute with eggs fail in some way, as there is no artificial egg that covers all the things that eggs are good for. While I agree that getting "unnatural" chemicals out of foods is generally a good thing, I am also willing to acknowledge that manufactured foods change as our available raw ingredients change.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ADRA ( 37398 )

        Eggs require chickens which requires feeding chickens, which is fine if you're raising the chickens yourself, but when you have a world with billions of people, not everyone can raise their own chickens, so either you stop eating chickens, or you get someone else to raise them for you. *takes breath* All that chicken requires a lot of feed, and a lot of feed takes more airable land away from producing the crap you do want, like human consumable veg and the such. Airable land is scarce and getting more so. S

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by kesuki ( 321456 )

          chickens are omnivores. they eat everything, grass, bugs, other chickens if they get bloodlust... they will even eat dirt and fecal material... my uncle raises his own chickens and feeds them with some feed and garden greens...

          there is also a neat organic chicken method where they are in a moveable, large area cage, which forces them to eat grass and dirt, which they usually avoid as they seek bugs as primary food... it takes grass 7 days to recover from this organic feeding method so you don't need a huge

        • chickens are pretty good at producing fertilizer

      • Eggs are about as natural as the chickens they pump with antibiotics. So, no.

        People should eat what they want to eat and will, but it helps that if you decide to eat eggs you understand what's going into the chickens you're getting them from.

      • I was wondering the same thing.

        And by the way..what's wrong with eating an EGG?

        Simple, natural food. I'd rather have that than a bunch of man- made chemicals. I'm currently trying to get rid of most of the chemicals man puts into things these days....and it ain't easy.

        Hmm, so to get an egg you need many gross things (chickens, hormones for the chickens, vaccines for the chickens, food for the chickens, fertilizer for the food for the chickens, etc etc etc) and yet to get peas you need a seed, sunlight, and water. Yep, let's go with eggs as being more natural!

        But seriously, eggs arent that bad for you, but they are incredibly energy intensive compared to just eating plants. Something like 20x more energy goes into an egg than goes into the peas that make up this product

        • Hmm, so to get an egg you need many gross things (chickens, hormones for the chickens, vaccines for the chickens, food for the chickens, fertilizer for the food for the chickens, etc etc etc) and yet to get peas you need a seed, sunlight, and water. Yep, let's go with eggs as being more natural!

          Wait, you're comparing factory raised chickens with organic peas? Chickens only require two things food (pasture or feed) and water. All the other stuff is just to raise productivity. Commercial Ag peas use things like fertilizer, pesticides, etc. not just "seed, sunlight, and water".

          • Hmm, so to get an egg you need many gross things (chickens, hormones for the chickens, vaccines for the chickens, food for the chickens, fertilizer for the food for the chickens, etc etc etc) and yet to get peas you need a seed, sunlight, and water. Yep, let's go with eggs as being more natural!

            Wait, you're comparing factory raised chickens with organic peas? Chickens only require two things food (pasture or feed) and water. All the other stuff is just to raise productivity. Commercial Ag peas use things like fertilizer, pesticides, etc. not just "seed, sunlight, and water".

            Except, for the same energy input (cost) you can get the most pristine organic peas, vs what it would take to get a chicken to lay an egg. If you are trying to reduce the unknowns/unnecessaries from your food chain, it's a no-brainer.

            • Except, for the same energy input (cost) you can get the most pristine organic peas, vs what it would take to get a chicken to lay an egg.

              Fungus is even cheaper, why waste money on fancy schmancy peas?

    • The government assures you it is safe to consume.

  • Eggbeaters, is that you?

  • Let's talk about the obvious (Score:3)

    by i kan reed ( 749298 ) on Monday November 24, 2014 @01:10PM (#48450589) Homepage Journal

    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?

  • Scrambled egg? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    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.

  • Can anyone here compare the Hampton Creek "Just Mayo" in taste and texture versus Vegenaise [followyourheart.com]?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      I've tried both and the Just Mayo is much better. I found the Vegenaise to have a weird consistency like poorly set up custard and the flavor wasn't great.
      Just Mayo has a great consistency and flavor... as good as "real" mayonnaise.
      (This is just my opinion, YMMV)

      • The other ones I've tried are Nayonaise (hated the smell and taste) and Spectrum Naturals Eggless Canola Mayonnaise (has the texture of flour/water glue and a weak taste).

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by millert ( 10803 )

      Just Mayo tastes much better than Vegenaise. My son has a severe egg allergy so we've eliminated eggs from our diet. To my taste buds, Just Mayo tastes as good as Hellmanns, which is probably why Unilever is so upset...

  • false advertising (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    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?

    • Your comment ends with the following statement "Fake egg products are not healthy". How is your statement true? Have you seen the list of ingredients in fake mayo? Most of them are made with natural, plant-based ingredients. Have you seen the list of ingredients in real mayonnaise? Some of them have chemicals and preservatives in them because they're made with eggs.

      • Bark is a plant based natural ingredient, that doesn't necessarily make it healthy to consume.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kergan ( 780543 )

        Most of them are made with natural, plant-based ingredients.

        Cyanide is present in apricot, apple and peach seeds -- it's a natural, plant-based ingredient. That doesn't make it healthy.

        An egg, in contrast, contains everything you need to turn a single cell into a grown chick. It's probably healthy.

        • So what you're saying is that it's not safe to eat apricots, apples and peaches, but it's safe to eat chicken bones.

          We could play with words like that all day long, the fact of the matter is that the original parent said "Fake egg products are not healthy" without stating any facts or even fake arguments against them.

  • Why would you call something Mayo that isn't? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Maxwell ( 13985 ) on Monday November 24, 2014 @01:28PM (#48450741) Homepage

    Why would you call something Mayo that isn't?

    Are your other product names as equally misleading?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ADRA ( 37398 )

      Do a google search for "mayonnaise recipe" and tell us which one is defacto Mayonnaise, because inquiring minds would like it put to bed, thanks.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Maxwell ( 13985 )

        Why not let the Food and Drug Administration an the Code of federal Regulations Title 21 tell you, exactly, what the legal definition of Mayonnaise is?

        To quote:

        a) "Description. Mayonnaise is the emulsified semisolid food prepared from vegetable oil(s), one or both of the acidifying ingredients specified in paragraph (b) of this section, and one or more of the egg yolk-containing ingredients specified in paragraph (c) of this section."

        source:
        http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.c

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jtara ( 133429 )

          It's a legit question.

          And that's why Hellman's themselves then had to scramble to clean-up their marketing materials and website and stop using the term "mayo" for some of their own products of theirs that don't contain any "egg product" (what? Did you think it contained EGGS?! ROFLMAO!)

          Hellman's invalided their own complaint, by their prior use of "mayo" for non-egg-producting-containing spreads. Maybe not legally, but morally. They can't go back and retroactively change the fact that they've been using th

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by hondo77 ( 324058 )

            Hellman's invalided their own complaint, by their prior use of "mayo" for non-egg-producting-containing spreads.

            Or: Hellman's validated their own complaint by halting use of the term "mayo" for any of their own products that do not contain any "egg product"?

      • If it includes eggs and some kind of oil I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. If it doesn't it's not Mayonnaise or Mayo. There is nothing wrong with making substitutes but they need to be clearly labeled.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by MrL0G1C ( 867445 )

        I'd advise against putting mayonnaise in your bed, it'll ruin your mattress.

    • Agreement. I have no objection to a vegetarian alternative to egg-based mayonnaise; OTOH I can see Hellman's point that calling it "just mayo" isn't right. When I first saw the name "Just Mayo" I assumed it was non-preservative, or no-added-whatever, or non-GMO, or some other health-food variant of "pure"; I did NOT infer that it was other-than-dictionary-definition-of mayonnaise.

      In contrast, I don't have the same issue with "soy milk" or "almond milk" not being some mammal's milk, like the dairy ind
      • I agree as well. This product should be renamed from "Just Mayo" to "Pea Mayo". I doubt it'd sell well, though.

      • | 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 beca

        • Another older example: coconut milk. I've never heard any debate about that particular usage, so the "almond milk" vs "almond juice" argument seems a bit silly to me.

          Has anyone asked the cows what they thought about the whole thing?

        • I explained why. They're called "something milk", not just "milk". Nobody mistakes "peanut butter" for "butter", either.

  • Eggs = Good (Score:4)

    by unixcorn ( 120825 ) on Monday November 24, 2014 @01:30PM (#48450753)

    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.

    • 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.

      To get the same amount of food (mayo in this case) you have to put 20x more energy into the process to get it from a chicken egg, vs getting it from a pea plant. So at scale, it would be a far cheaper way to arrive at mayo. Today this means less cost to make a nice sandwich, but continued development could lead to far lower cost, but still tasty alternatives to mainstream protein sources.

  • 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 ide

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Ever tried to buy cranberry juice? You can't at most grocery stores, and you can't even tell how much cranberry juice is actually in the mix. Yet, I asked for a glass of cranberry juice with breakfast this morning and they served it right up. Of course it wasn't actually even mostly cranberry juice, it was mostly apple. I suspect if you asked 1000 random shoppers if they were sure that mayonnaise always has eggs in it, you'd be hard pressed to find 10 that were sure. In fact, if you ask it that way, I'll be

    • 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?

      That's funny, half the people I mentioned mayo to (admittedly, mostly young) said "its made from eggs? *uncooked* eggs?? how weird" I think that once this whole naming thing is settled with the FDA, whatever they end up calling it, no one will bat an eye that it's egg free as long as it tastes good.

      • Just as ignorance of the law is no defense, ignorance of the meaning of common words, I would argue, is no defense either. OTOH, it sounds delicious so I hope to try some.

  • 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

  • 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 r

  • ... should burn in Hell.

  • http://annals.org/article.aspx... [annals.org] 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 b

    • Here's the ingredients for Just Mayo. Pretty short list:

      ... - Pea protein...

      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

      So, you might say you love the pea-ness?

  • Why would I buy your product? (Score:3)

    by futuresheep ( 531366 ) on Monday November 24, 2014 @03:38PM (#48451771) Journal
    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 [authoritynutrition.com] 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 [youtube.com]... That would be healthy?

  • Are your products available outside of the U.S.A.? Do you have any Canadian distributors/resellers?

  • 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

  • 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 r

  • 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 addictio

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