The Old-School Canned Vegetarian Protein We Don't See Anyone Eating Anymore

Long before the days of Beyond Meat and the many different meat substitutes on the market today, there were a few options for those looking to supplement their diets with extra protein, like Wham, Tuno, FriChick, and Big Franks. Another of these was Nuteena, a peanut-based, vegan canned food. While it was peanut-butter based, it was more versatile and offered more protein per serving than the traditional form of the nut butter.

Nuteena's flavor was described as similar to peanut butter but a bit more savory. This opened it up for use as a spread on sandwiches, as the filling in casseroles, and in any other dish that would generally call for meat, as long as it was appropriately seasoned. It came in a can with instructions to open both ends and push the contents through, resulting in a single loaf that could be sliced and chopped on demand. The flavor wasn't the same as the meat it was replacing, but that was never the intention.

Part of the reason Nuteena was one of the popular canned foods of a bygone era was that it had a pleasant, neutral taste that was suitable for a variety of dishes, similar to tofu, a plant-based protein that can be marinated for strikingly flavorful results. Not only that, it was also packed with protein, which, in a vegetarian or vegan diet, is often in short supply.

Nuteena was first released by Loma Linda Foods in 1949, which was at the time owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Followers of the church are generally vegetarian and believe strongly in healthy lifestyles and diets based on legumes, whole grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. This led Loma Linda Foods to focus on developing meat-free food alternatives, out of which Nuteena was born.

In 1980, Loma Linda Foods was sold to Worthington Foods, only to be purchased by Kellogg's in 1999. Then, for reasons never adequately explained to the public, Kellogg's discontinued Nuteena in 2005, forcing the food's loyal customers to search for alternatives. Some even experimented with recipes to try to make their own. While many other plant-based meat substitutes are available on the market, die-hard fans of Nuteena continue to wax nostalgic about it. 

Although Nuteena is no longer around, Loma Linda now offers a similar product: a canned, peanut-based meat substitute called Nutolene, which provides 11 grams of protein in a single serving. The company suggests using it to make vegan burgers, casseroles, or stir-fries, similar to how Nuteena was used before it was discontinued. While it's good to have an alternative to fill the void, Nuteena is among the discontinued canned products that you'll probably never taste again.