MEAT+POULTRY’s Donna Berry teamed up with Britt Burton-Freeman, a professor in the Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition at the Illinois Institute of Technology, to provide a scientific perspective on the alternative meat craze in a live TV interview that was broadcast May 21 on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” news program.

“Alternative meat is just as the name describes: it’s an alternative to meat,” Burton-Freeman said.

Berry said, “The growth is skyrocketing because there’s nothing to compare it to. These meat alternatives have started from ground zero, so all they’re going to do is grow.”

Food scientist and industry analyst Berry, who’s been covering the food industry for more than 25 years, said the growth in the alternative meat industry reminds her of the Greek yogurt fad a decade ago.

“It’s a jump on the bandwagon thing and everyone is in it, but like any other trend, it will have its peak and then it will start to die or slow down,” she said. “So, it’s just a matter of how long that drags out.”