Is tofu better from Carrefour, from Lidl, from Aldi…? We Compare 6 Tofu Brands

Tofu is cheese made from soy milk and is used in vegetarian or vegan diets as an alternative to meat due to its protein richness and its versatility in the kitchen.

It is a common and traditional food in Asia, which arrived in Europe in the 1960s and until recently was only found in dietetics, herbalists and organic stores. Currently it is also found in large areas such as El Corte Inglés, Alcampo, Lidl, Carrefour or Aldi.

As with all foods, there are differences in quality and we wanted to make a comparison between some tofus currently on the market.

There are different types of tofu

To find your way around the wide range of tofus, the first thing you need to know is that there are different types depending on how it is made.

Plain tofu is made from dried soybeans that are heated in water and pureed. Natural coagulating or precipitating agents such as lemon, nigari (magnesium chloride, traditionally obtained from seawater), or potassium sulfate, sulfate, or calcium carbonate are then added. The soy protein is then flocculated or curdled.

In this way, a dough is obtained that is shaped into a block or block and that is more or less compressed to drain part of the water and give rise to tofus with different degrees of firmness, from silky to firm tofu (the water content ranges from 90% in silky to 75% in firm).

These natural tofu They are very neutral in flavor and aroma. It can be said that they are tasteless and odorless. It is later, when prepared at home, when they acquire flavor by marinating with soy sauce, grilling with a little oil, salt and pepper, or mixing it with other ingredients in a soup or rice. He silken Plain Tofu, for its part, it can be beaten to make sauces, desserts or ice creams. He smoked tofu It is characterized by having brown edges and a characteristic aroma. It is drier, firmer and more elastic than natural tofu and also saltier. The essential difference is that it can be eaten as is, raw, with toast, for example. The list of ingredients of a natural tofu is short: soybeans, water and nigari or potassium sulfate. However, some manufacturers offer more or less elaborate tofu to make them more attractive. There are tofus with fine herbs, seaweed or spices like turmeric. These preparations are simple and do not significantly alter the nutritional properties of tofu. Adding an oil (often sunflower oil, which is a less desirable fat) increases the fat ratio and calories per serving.

ultra-processed products

In other cases, tofu is used as a base to make pâtés or products that imitate meat presentations, such as hamburgers, sausages, or rolls that are cut into slices.

These preparations are no longer strictly tofu and may incorporate higher or lower quality fats, binding additives, preservatives, etc. It is, therefore, ultra-processed products whose nutritional qualities and effect on health can be very different, since they no longer have to do with the original natural tofu.

Do they contain transgenic soy?

More than 70 percent of the soybeans grown in the world are transgenic, that is, their genetic material has been altered to introduce genes for resistance to herbicides. In the United States this proportion reaches 94%. But this soybean is mainly used for the production of feed and soybean products for industry (including food).

The law prohibits the presence of transgenic ingredients in certified organic food products. In conventional products, by legal obligation, if it contains a proportion of transgenic soybean greater than 0.9%, it must be indicated in the list of ingredients with the phrases “this product contains genetically modified organisms” or “this product contains genetically modified”. In the Spanish market we are not aware of any tofu that includes transgenic soybeans.

However, a small degree of unintentional contamination that does not reach 0.9%, due to the proximity of transgenic crops. Manufacturers of organic products usually carry out analyzes to avoid even this small contamination. Independent tests carried out in Germany in 2021 by the Warentest Foundation confirm that organic products are free of GMOs. Of 15 brands analyzed, this test only found traces of transgenic soy in a sample of organic tofu from Lidl and was not considered a legal breach.

On the other hand, organically produced tofus are completely safe from chemical pesticide residues used in the cultivation of soybeans, something that cannot be said of the rest of tofus.

plastic packaging

In addition to transgenics, another factor that worries consumers when purchasing food is that it is packaged in plastic, a material that is not entirely inert (it can release components into the content) and that represents a major environmental problem. Unfortunately, tofus are still packaged in plastic, with very honorable exceptions that occur in a glass container, highly preferable.

The plastic chosen by manufacturers to package tofu is low-density polyethylene (in soft packaging) or polypropylene (rigid packaging), which is considered the safest in plastic packaging.

Comparison of 6 tofus in the Spanish market

The appearance of the different brands of tofu is very similar, a white cheese cube, but they present significant differences on the palate and especially when cooking: there are more aromatic and more bitter or dry tofus, tofus that easily stick to the pan or that fall apart, and tofus that maintain consistency. Let’s see the differences.