Vegan food pumps
The number of vegans is increasing year by year. Vegan substitutes have become an integral part of the food industry.
Vegan substitutes are a good option for veggies and veganto imitate an animal product. They can help you maintain a healthy diet and sometimes help you lose weight. There are many different vegan substitutes on the market that can replace milk, cheese, yogurt, meat, and even eggs. Only the term vegan and vegetarian is used below. This does not include any rating and is intended exclusively for smoother readability. Of course, we appeal to all genders.
When is a product vegan?
Vegan products refrain from using any ingredients of animal origin. From Meal plan A vegan completely omits meat, fish, seafood, eggs, milk or honey. Since many vegans have not stopped eating these products because of their taste, there are vegan substitutes. These products try to imitate the taste of animal products without a living being having to die or suffer. Special pumps are required to produce these products, which we will discuss below in this text.
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Where does the vegan diet come from and how long has this diet existed?
The history of vegan nutrition goes back further than you might think. The mathematician Pythagoras (around 570 — 500 BC) is considered the first known major veggies. He was of the opinion that everything bad that humans do to animals will come back to them at some point. A few like-minded people gather around him - but there is never any real movement.
In 600 BC, the Greek Orphics also refused to eat meat for religious-philosophical reasons. In addition to abstaining from meat, they also abstained from eggs and wool. They believed that the human and animal soul would be reborn after death. Accordingly, only those souls who kept themselves pure and lived abstinently find salvation. During the fall of antiquity, many also disappear vegetarians and vegans from the screen. There were isolated monks here and there who abstained from meat for religious purposes.
In the early modern period, a number of well-known vegetarians appeared again. Leonardo Da Vinci was also a supporter of vegetarian way of life And ate from my own persuasion no meat. The rate of vegetarians also rose slightly during the Enlightenment period.
The first vegetarian association was founded in London in 1801. Shortly after, in 1847, the Vegetarian Society was founded, which still exists today.
Up to this point, there was no distinction between vegan and vegetarian lifestyles. This changed with the one founded in 1944 Vegan Society. The Vegan Society was founded on the basis of Vegetarian Society.
At the end of the 20th century, the number of Animal Welfare Movements drastically too. In the beginning, the activists were ridiculed by animal welfare demonstrations, but more and more serious media reports follow. But also the abstinence from animal products due to climate protection is becoming more and more popular.
How many people eat vegan today?
In 2022, there were around 1.58 million people who described themselves as vegans. Viewed globally, 0.3 percent of the population followed a vegan diet in 2020 and the number of vegans doubled to 0.6% in 2021. Around 57% of non-vegans want their meat consumption reduce in the future.
How are vegan substitutes made?
The mass of alternatives from various dairy products It's big. For example, cow's milk is replaced by soy milk, oat milk, coconut milk, almond milk and many more. All of these types are relatively uncomplicated to produce. This makes them easy to make at home with just a few ingredients and little effort.
The industrial production of Soy drinks is particularly noteworthy because it also produces animal feed at the same time. The starting material here is soybean. This legume is already removed from the pod during harvesting. It is then washed in the factory to be brought to spring in a little water. When the soybeans are soft enough, they are puréed with fresh water. Now you have a thicker, white mass that is slightly reminiscent of milk. This mass is then boiled and the solid components, the so-called soy meal, are filtered. This soybean meal is now used as animal feed or even for biogas plants.
To now a plant-based alternative to yogurt to produce, lactic acid bacteria are added to soy drink. The thick consistency is the result of lactic acid fermentation (fermentation), which causes the soy liquid to coagulate.
Plant-based cheese It works completely differently in production. As a basis, water, vegetable oil, potato starch and salt are processed with - depending on taste - almonds, cashew nuts, soy or yeast flakes. However, some additives, such as stabilizers, flavors, colorings or preservatives, are essential for vegetable cheese.
Plant-based meat alternatives are usually also made from soybeans. This includes tofu, tempeh and soy meat, for example. There is also Saitan, which consists of wheat protein (wheat gluten). Meat alternatives based on legumes, such as peas, chickpeas, beans and sweet lupins, are less well known. There are also meat alternatives based on so-called jackfruit or even various types of mushrooms.
Like plant-based soy yogurt, tofu is made from soy liquid. This is cooked and mixed using a coagulant, such as Nigari. Nigari, a salt derived from sea salt, is a important component, which ensures that the soy liquid coagulates. The curdling causes the soy protein to flake. These flakes are the tofu mass, which are then separated from the soy liquid and the Nigari it contains. The flakes are now pressed into rectangular shapes. The residual liquid can now escape here.
Our tumble ring pumps from pumpsystems are particularly suitable for the production of herbal sausage alternatives. The filling process is not much different from the production method of conventional sausages. This type of Vegan food pump Conveys the products gently and without shear forces.
There is also another Alternative for egg, which consists of corn or potato starch, lupine flour, hydrogenated vegetable fat, emulsifier and thickener. The powdered vegetable egg is mixed with water before use and can then be stirred into the batter.
What is the function of pumps in the production of vegan substitutes and which type of pump is best?
Pumps for vegan substitutes perform tasks similar to pumps for foodstuff of animal origin. They must be able to crush, mix, disperse, emulsify and heat during production. As is usual in the food industry, they must comply with all regulations and certificates that are required. In addition, you can run smoothly with CIP and SIP cleaning systems.
Different from centrifugal pumps, enable positive displacement pumps an optimal pumping result, even with highly viscous media. The most popular positive displacement pumps, such as gear, rotary and rotary piston pumps, can achieve a wide range of delivery results. However, when the viscosity decreases, the pumping capacity decreases and centrifugal pumps can also be suitable. Examples of suitable centrifugal pumps include the radial pump, diagonal pump or even the side channel pump. These types of pumps can be considered for the various plant-based milk alternatives.
Particularly suitable, for example for vegan minced meat or the filling of plant-based sausage alternatives, is our wobble ring pump. Yours area of application combines excellent dry running resistance with easy transportation of highly viscous and viscous pumping media. It is made of stainless steel, has no dead space and is therefore quick and easy to clean.
You can find out more about the wobble ring pump in our product brochures.
If you want to know more about the various industries of food industry Would you like to learn, please browse through our last article. In it, you can find out more about the chocolate industry and its pumps learn.
