Morningstar and Boca brand burgers are essentially texturized soy protein ( which, in and of itself is flavorless, and I would admit - mostly harmless ) with added colorings, flavorings, and salt...a lot of salt. Some variations have cheese in there ( not labeled as organic in any way ), some with chemicals I just can't even pronounce.
Boca Burgers ( All American Flame Grilled ): Water, Soy protein concentrate, reduced fat cheddar cheese ( Pasturized part-skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes, annatto color, vitamin A palmitate ), wheat gluten, corn oil - contains less than 2% of methylcellulose, hydrolyzed corn protein, wheat gluten, and soy protein, salt, caramel color, cheese powder ( cheddar cheese {milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes}, cream , salt, sodium phosphate, lactic acid ), dried onions, yeast extract, natural flavor ( non-meat ), sesame oil, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, browned in corn oil.
Morningstar Chik Patties ( Original ):
TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, WHEAT GLUTEN, WATER FOR HYDRATION), WATER, BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), CORN OIL, CORNSTARCH, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF WHEAT STARCH, SALT, WHEAT GLUTEN, DEXTROSE, METHYLCELLULOSE, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, HYDROLYZED CORN AND SOY PROTEIN, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SUGAR, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS FROM NON-MEAT SOURCES, AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, YEAST EXTRACT, SOYBEAN OIL, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, LEAVENING (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, BAKING SODA), DISODIUM INOSINATE, ONION, DRIED YEAST, CARAMEL COLOR, INULIN FROM CHICORY ROOT, SPICES, XANTHAN GUM, TAPIOCA DEXTRIN, SODIUM ALGINATE, GUAR GUM, PAPRIKA EXTRACT FOR COLOR, CELLULOSE GUM, CITRIC ACID, LACTIC ACID, ANNATTO EXTRACT FOR COLOR, GARLIC, PAPRIKA, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, CELERY EXTRACT, WHEAT FIBER, TURMERIC FOR COLOR, BARLEY EXTRACT, NIACINAMIDE, NONFAT DRY MILK, EGG WHITES, SUCCINIC ACID, IRON (FERROUS SULFATE), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), VITAMIN B12.
( Honestly, sorry for the all caps. I copied it from their website, and that's just too much for me to retype with only 1 cup of coffee in my system )
Clearly - added starches, chemicals, proteins, salts. Not clean by any stretch of the imagination. This is one of those items that masquerades as health food, but really isn't healthy at all. Each Boca burger has almost 400 mg of sodium; each Chik patty has 590 mg. The chik patties have white flour in them ( no thank you! ) and the added gums and starches to make it form a patty.
Best bet if like me, you've been popping these into the microwave for a quick low calorie lunch? On Sundays, buy a tray of organic chicken breasts, a tray of organic grass fed hamburger patties, grill them on your George Foreman type grill, and package them once cool individually for lunches throughout the week. This will be what I will be doing from now on.
I don't have a problem admitting when I've made a mistake ( usually...) and here's one time, I was wrong. These meat substitute burgers aren't clean.