THE IMPOSTERS

THE SUPERMARKET SHELVES ARE REPLETE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIC FARE — NO-MEAT JERKY? DAIRY-FREE CHEESE? EGGLESS EGGS? HERE’S THE LOWDOWN ON THESE TRENDING NEW FOODS — WHAT THEY ARE, WHAT THEY AREN’T, WHAT TO BUY AND WHAT TO PASS BY.

- MATTHEW KADEY

SIMPLICITY HAS ALL BUT DISAPPEARED WHEN IT COMES TO NUTRITION.

These days, you can bite into a veggie burger that “bleeds,” chomp on chips made of fish skin and whip up a tuna salad with nary a swimmer in sight. Thanks to modern food technology, human ingenuity and the popularity of trendy and/or restrictive diets, every type of food now suffers from impostor syndrome, and the uprising of counterfeit fare shows no signs of slowing down.

But do any of these imitation edibles actually taste good? More important, are they at all nutritionally valuable, or are they simply as mega-processed as they are mega-marketed? Here is how some of the trendiest contenders stack up to the real deal.

THE TRICKSTER: NO-MEAT JERKY

It’s enough to make long-haul truckers skid off the road — jerky made with everything from shiitake mushrooms to sun-dried tomatoes to seaweed and more. Plant-based jerky is a convenient — and surprisingly tasty — snacking option if you’re looking to trim some processed meat from your diet. But some versions made with jackfruit, kelp or mushrooms lack the protein needed to slay between meal hunger or to build and maintain lean muscle tissue. And while no-meat products contain less saturated fat and often fewer calories than the original, those elements are replaced with sodium, sugar and fillers.

THE VERDICT: So are you getting jerked around? It depends on how you look at it. While a plant-based product can certainly scratch your itch when you’re craving this classic snack, the nutritional trade-off might not be worth the while.