Beyond Meat Inc (BYND)

[sapote]

There’s no hard evidence that genetically-modified soy is any less healthful than non-GM soy.

Indeed, IMO the primary issue here is that soy protein isolate is a highly processed, non-fermented form of soy. Traditional soy foods include miso, soy sauces (shoyu, tamari) organic soybean oil, tekka, tempeh, and some types of tofu. They are prepared in a specific way; fermented and/or cooked. This takes care of most of the problems you see with eating unfermented and highly processed soy.

The natural foods industry has been moving away from soy and soy protein isolate for a little over a decade now; pea protein came on the natural foods world scene early this decade. Here is one pea protein manufacturer selling USA grown product - Puris Foods. There are always going to be changes in what is acceptable in the natural foods world; see carrageenan for another prime example. Was used widely, now you see products calling out "now carrageenan free" on the front of their packaging after reformulation.

That's why Beyond Meat is legit. It is a premium product aiming to hit everything; taste, ingredients, decent price. The other brands are going for low price / high margins, or for taste... and usually a disregard for quality ingredients.

Here's more information about soy and fermentation if you want to dive deeper. Eden Foods is the original natural foods company, still an industry leader and privately owned. You can read more about fermented vs. unprocessed soy here - Sorting Out Soy Confusion. It dives deep into several problems with unfermented, highly processed soy, and explains how fermentation or traditional preparation negates those problems. Here's another article, from a different site The Truth About Unfermented Vs Fermented Soy (Good Or Bad?).