{"id":27243,"date":"2026-08-28T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=27243"},"modified":"2026-08-06T11:02:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T15:02:39","slug":"redefine-meat-is-vegan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2026\/08\/28\/redefine-meat-is-vegan\/","title":{"rendered":"Redefine Meat is Vegan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS<\/p>\n

The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) first learned of a new meat alternative called Redefine Meat<\/a> in 2022. Initially, we had wondered if it was just the latest example of a food product manufactured via precision fermentation (PF), a process usually involving animal genes taken from a virtual DNA library and inserted into microbes who in turn produce an animal or dairy protein such as gelatin or casein, respectively. For example, in 2021, we reported on Perfect Day’s called \u201canimal-free<\/a>\u201d whey, now used in many food and beverages products available at major chain retailers.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously growing in popularity in the early 2020s was cell-cultured (i.e., lab-grown) meat, culminating in the 2022 approval<\/a> by the United States Food and Drug Administration followed by the 2023 approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for two companies to manufacture and sell cell-cultured meat products in the U.S. So, The VRG also wondered if Redefine Meat could be a cell-cultured meat product.<\/p>\n

We reached out to Redefine Meat by email in 2022 and asked them to confirm the following:<\/p>\n

\u201c1. Your products contain no animal-derived ingredients.
\n2. There is no animal- or dairy-derived genetic material used to make your products at any step in the process. This includes no animal DNA (including genes coding for dairy ingredients) from a digital library.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robin Fine, a business development representative at Redefine Meat, replied promptly and told us: \u201cRedefine Meat products are made from plant-based ingredients and are 100% vegan. They include ingredients from a variety of food groups recommended in a balanced diet, including proteins, carbohydrates and vegetable-based fats. Additional information about our products can be found in the product section of our website<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In search of more clarity on the manufacture of Redefine Meat, we asked Fine to be more specific by inquiring:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that the words \u201cplant-based\u201d and \u201cvegan\u201d mean different things to different people. So, to get clarity on how you\u2019re using them, could you please confirm that your products:<\/p>\n

\u201c1. Contain no animal-derived ingredients at all (including microingredients like animal-derived stearic acid or dairy-derived whey as well as macroingredients like gelatin or beef fat)<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No animal- or dairy-derived genetic material – including virtual DNA – was inserted into microbes to produce animal and\/or dairy proteins later used in your products. Nor was animal- or dairy-derived genetic material used in any other way during product design or manufacture.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Fine responded simply by stating: \u201cOur products do not contain any of the [above] ingredients or materials and are 100% plant-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Assured that Redefine Meat is neither manufactured by PF using animal genes nor cell-cultured meat, The VRG emailed Fine in June 2026 about the availability of Redefine Meat in the U.S. We learned from Fine:<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe are available at various foodservice establishments in the East Coast mainly in the [New York City, Boston, and Connecticut] areas, and we are working on expanding to more areas. Our current distributors are:<\/p>\n