Information updated April 2024

“This is science. This is not cooking.” - Mr. Paul Wahlberg of Wahlburgers where Impossible Burgers have been on the menu for a few years.

PLANT-BASED MEAT SUBSTITUTE FROM IMPOSSIBLE FOODS

We’ve all heard of meat subtitutes. The reasons people seek out alternatives to animal products range from ethical and health concerns to environmental and financial issues. There are currently a few players in this arena, all exploring and developing new meatless options. 

One of these players is Impossible Foods >> they have created a burger which has been available in the past couple of years in various restaurants throughout the U.S. like White Castle and Wahlburgers and as the Impossible Whopper at Burger King.

To note, unlike other comparisons we've made to homemade, this one is tough since the Impossible meat was created in a laboratory >> it is hard to compare it to a homemade version since we would never be able to make this ourselves at home. Nonetheless, there are ingredients in an Impossible Foods’ plant-based meat which are clearly not things we would use at home to make, say, a plant-based meat substitute or a veggie burger.

So let’s look at what ingredients are in the Impossible Plant-based Meat: (Source: Impossible Foods Web site 4/24)

It's no surprise that Impossible Foods’ plant-based meat is Far From Homemade™ given its creation story. The product contains soy derivatives, commercially extracted proteins, added flavors, thickening and binding agents, added fortification and numerous ingredients which are commercial-grade, mass food production items (e.g., Yeast Extract).

Yeast Extract contains Glutamic acid >> that's the thing in Monosodium Glutamate that makes things taste good but is also potentially harmful. Yeast extracts are concentrations of dead yeast cells with their cell walls disintegrated by their own digestive systems. According to the U.S. FDA 2024, “The FDA does not allow foods that contain Yeast Extract to say ‘No MSG’” (the ‘G’ in MSG stands for Glutamate).

According to the Environmental Working Group 2024, Natural Flavors can contain anywhere from 50 to 100 ingredients. 

HOW DOES THE IMPOSSIBLE BURGER COMPARE TO OTHER MEATLESS BURGER OPTIONS? If you're seeking a tasty vegan burger there are several on the market, yay! Let's compare Impossible to a Closest To Homemade® products:

ROLLINGREENS: RollinGreens Plant-Based ME’EAT contains no Soy, Gluten, Grains or Nuts. This Chef-created product is based on Pea Protein. Agar-Agar is a popular vegan ingredient derived from Red Seaweed and Apple + Carrot Juice are added for color. The remainder of the ingredients are those which might commonly be found in a recipe for a Beef-based burger >> ingredients we’ve all had in our kitchens. (Sources: RollinGreens Web site 4/24; Impossible Foods Web site 4/24)

Seen below, a comparison of Impossible to Hilary’s Veggie Burgers (Source: Hilary’s Eat Well Web site 4/24)

Here are a couple of Veggie Burgers from Amy’s which are Closest To Homemade:

And here’s a look at the ingredients in Impossible Plant-based Meatballs:

Learn more about Synthetic Meat from expert Dr. Cate Shanahan:

Discover more food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.

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