Q: What is Crossover Meats?
A: Crossover Meat makes 100% ground meat products that have up to 50% of the environmental impact of your traditional ground beef, pork and lamb. We believe in protecting the future of the environment - but we also know that a sudden, global shift toward eliminating meat is hard to do. Our mission is to make an amazing product that fills in the gap ("crossover" get it?) between regular meat and plant-based for the 90+% of the world that is still putting real meat into their grocery basket and onto their dinner table - so we can do everything we can to protect this beautiful planet.
Q: How does Crossover Meats reduce the environmental impact of ground meat without using fillers or GMO’s?
A: All ground meat is made of lean protein, fat and blood. We grind meat like any other processor, except we replace the lean protein of ground beef, lamb or pork with whole chicken breast. Chicken is much more sustainable and renewable protein than beef, pork or lamb, having better feed to meat conversion, using less water, land and emitting less CO2.
Q: Why is blood used as an ingredient in Crossover products?
A: All meat contains blood. Blood provides flavor, color and iron, which is an essential part of the juiciness and nutrition of meat. USDA certified beef blood is an excellent source of bio-available iron. While is an under utilized ingredient in the US, it is used widely around the world in everything from sausages to sandwich meats to soups. Crossover Meats contain the exact same amount of blood and iron as 100% beef, pork or lamb.
Q: Does it have to have blood, though?
A: Other companies use hemoglobin substitutes for a “meaty” taste - but they’re genetically modified (aka GMOs), and the thought of meat being grown in a lab or beaker doesn’t sit well with us. With USDA certified blood, we can go the all-natural, no-additives, no-weird-guys-in-lab-coats-pouring-over-petri-dish-meat route. Capturing blood is a natural part of the slaughter process.
Q: What about beet juice?
A: Beet juice only adds color but not bio-available iron. It’s usually used in plant-based meats to create the pinkish look of meat and to simulate all-natural blood.
Q: Does Crossover use additives or colorants?
A: No. When we started Crossover, our mission was to provide an all-natural alternative to regular ground meat. That means all-natural ingredients, and never artificial flavoring, additives, colorants, fillers, allergens, GMOs - you name it, we don’t got it.
Q: Are Crossover products vegetarian/vegan?
A: No. That’s kinda the whole point.
Q: Is the CEO actually vegan?
A: Yes, but she prefers “plant-based” - but she was a huge burger & fries queen in her former life! Yes, we do see the irony in a meat company being run by someone who doesn’t eat meat now. But we think this says a lot about why our company was started: because we care so much about food security and improving food’s impact on the environment, we decided to tackle issues plant-based meat can't. We know we can’t expect everyone to cut meat out of their diets completely and because of that, we came up with a response to make meat more environmentally sustainable. But don’t worry, most of us eat meat and can fully vouch for the deliciousness of our products (no, we’re not just saying that because we work here).
Q: Do I cook Crossover Products the same way I would cook regular ground meats?
A: Yes. Our products are designed to look, cook, and taste the exact same as their counterparts - but you’ll have to make sure they’re cooked to an internal temperature of 165F/74C, which means the center is pinkish. (Another reason to break out your turkey thermometer besides just at Thanksgiving.)