Impossible Foods Create The Impossible Burger
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A Silicon Valley startup company have created what they call 'The Impossible Burger'. The Impossible Burger is 100% plant-based making it the perfect solution for vegetarians and vegans who miss eating their favourite foods. But what is it?
Who are Impossible Foods?
Founded by Patrick Brown, Impossible Foods is a Silicon Valley startup on a mission to make the global food system more sustainable. The fast-growing team includes scientists, engineers, chefs, farmers and foodies.
How did the company get started?
The company started in 2011 with the aim of answering the question “Why does meat taste like meat?” Brown and his team spent the next five years researching every aspect of the unique sensory experience of meat, from how it looks raw to how it sizzles. They then recreated the precise flavours, textures, aromas, and nutrition of ground beef using only plants. By understanding meat at the molecular level with the help of scientists and chefs, they managed to make a burger that truly tastes like meat yet is completely plant-based.
How does it work?
The Impossible Burger is made from simple ingredients found in nature, including wheat, coconut oil and potatoes. The secret ingredient, however, is heme. Heme contributes to the characteristic colour and taste of the meat, and it catalyses all the other flavours when meat is cooked. Heme is exceptionally abundant in animal muscle and it’s a basic building block of life in all organisms, including plants. Impossible Foods discovered how to take heme from plants and produce it using fermentation.
What's in the burger?
Water, Textured Wheat Protein, Coconut Oil, Potato Protein, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of: Leghemoglobin (soy), Yeast Extract, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Konjac Gum, Xanthan Gum, Thiamin (Vitamin B1), Zinc, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.
How is the impossible burger better for the planet?
It takes a lot of land, water, food, and time for cows to turn plants into meat. Compared to a burger made from cows, making an Impossible Burger uses about 1/20th of the land, one-quarter of the water, and produces 1/8th of the greenhouse gas emissions.
What's the nutrition information?
Unfortunately for us here in the UK, the Impossible Burger is currently only available in the US, however Impossible Foods say they hope to expand internationally in the future.
