EVERY day at the Adver we receive a barrage of statistics and survey results purporting to reveal an exciting new development in this social attitude, or the popularity of that new product.

While all these statistics deserve careful scrutiny, one such survey indicates that two out of three Brits think meat-free alternatives will overtake traditional burgers in 20 years.

According to ‘global intelligence platform’ Streetbees, 64 per cent of Brits believe meat-free alternatives will be more common than traditional meat burgers by 2038 and a third of Brits would make the switch to only buying meat-free burgers - if they tasted the same as beef. That number rises to 71 per cent of under-25s.

US company Impossible Foods has been working hard to create such a burger. Their dedicated team of top scientists, farmers and chefs spent the last five years studying the traditional burger from cow to bun, identifying methods and ingredients with the goal of recreating everything -- the sights, sounds, aromas, textures and flavours of the real thing, except that it contains zero per cent cow.

The results look pretty impressive - in the pictures at least. And they use a fraction of the Earth’s natural resources. Compared to cows, they claim the Impossible Burger uses 95 per cent less land, 74 per cent less water, and creates 87 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

The Impossible Burger is made from all-natural ingredients such as wheat, coconut oil, and potatoes. What makes the Impossible Burger so meaty, however, is an ingredient called heme. They say heme is a basic building block of life on Earth, including plants, that is uniquely abundant in meat.

“We discovered that heme is what makes meat smell, sizzle, bleed, and taste gloriously meaty. Consider it the ‘magic ingredient’ that makes our burger a carnivore’s dream,” the company declares.

As far as I can tell, the Impossible Burger isn’t yet available in the UK and I’m sure there are vegans who wouldn’t countenance eating something designed to imitate meat because the thought of eating meat upsets them.

But for the many who like meat but want to cut down on it, or are unhappy with the animal welfare, health or environmental impact of eating beef, this just might be the way forward. I look forward to giving it a try.