In Brief

Schmacon, Anyone? Company Unveils All-Beef Bacon Alternative

Schmacon
Schmacon is an all-beef alternative to traditional pork bacon. (Image credit: Schmaltz Products, LLC)

If Howard Bender has his way, restaurants could soon be serving up eggs with a side of Schmacon. Bender, the CEO of Schmaltz Products LLC, is the inventor of a new all-beef bacon alternative, called Schmacon, that pairs smoky and sweet flavor with a meaty and crisp texture. Company officials say Schmacon is lower in fat, calories and sodium than traditional pork bacon.

"Schmacon is delicious and unlike anything else on the market," Bender, a deli entrepreneur and a trained chef from the Culinary Institute of America, said in a statement. "Beef factors heavily into deli menus, and seeing what was going on with bacon, I envisioned a beef product that could capture some of the same magic."

The new product was officially unveiled at the National Restaurant Association Show, which was held May 17-20 in Chicago. Schmaltz Products currently sells Schmacon online, but the company plans to have their "un-bacon" available in grocery stores by the end of the year.

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Denise Chow
Live Science Contributor

Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.