The food world is abuzz this week with news of the Impossible burger. On April 1, Impossible Foods, the maker of the plant-based burger patty, made the announcement that Burger King is testing its patty in St. Louis, with plans for wider availability soon from coast to coast. The burger has been available in gourmet restaurants and smaller chains since 2016, but a new recipe, dubbed Impossible Burger 2.0, was introduced this year by the silicon valley startup and food critics have been going gaga singing its praises as the closest thing to real beef they have ever tasted.
The news attracted the attention of the Missouri Farm Bureau, which represents the interests of the meat industry. Eric Bohl, the Director of Public Affairs & Advocacy for the Bureau wrote this commentary -
If farmers and ranchers think we can mock and dismiss these products as a passing fad, we’re kidding ourselves. This is not just another disgusting tofu burger that only a dedicated hippie could convince himself to eat. It’s 95 percent of the way there, and the recipe is likely to only get better. Farmers and ranchers need to take notice and get ready to compete. I’ve tasted it with my own mouth, and this fake meat is ready for prime time.
The loftiest praise by even the most discerning food critic cannot top this devastating assessment by the meat industry.
What is the Impossible Burger?
The Impossible Burger is manufactured by the Silicon Valley-based Impossible Foods, which was founded in 2011 by Stanford biochemistry professor Patrick O. Brown. The burger uses soy and other plant based ingredients to replicate the taste, smell and texture of real beef. The burger’s secret ingredient is heme, an iron-containing molecule found in blood and soy roots, which is responsible for providing the taste and texture provided by meat.
The target group for this burger is not vegetarians or vegans, it is meat-eaters who prefer the taste of meat but would not mind a burger made of plants instead of animals. This represents a large consumer group and can have a huge impact on the environment in the coming years.
Environmental Impact
According to the company website, compared to burger made from cows, an Impossible™ Burger requires the equivalent of 96% less land, 87% less water and 89% fewer emissions.
Impossible Food’s Mission Statement reads -
We’ve been eating meat since we lived in caves. And today, some of our most magical moments together happen around meat: Weekend barbecues. Midnight fast-food runs. Taco Tuesdays. Hot dogs at the ballpark. Those moments are special, and we never want them to end. But using animals to make meat is a prehistoric and destructive technology. Animal agriculture occupies almost half the land on earth, consumes a quarter of our freshwater and destroys our ecosystems. So we’re doing something about it: we’re making meat using plants, so that we never have to use animals again. That way, we can eat all the meat we want, for as long as we want. And save the best planet in the known universe.
This simple video shows a vision of a future where Earth is still green and alive, as seen by an astronaut returning from Mars!
The contribution of livestock to global warming
The contribution of livestock globally to green house gases (GHG) has been studied extensively and recent studies indicate that the contribution has been severely underestimated, especially because methane is a much more potent GHG than CO2.
A study at www.worldwatch.org/… of the widely cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that “livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,564 million tons of CO2e per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions”, far greater than the FAO report.
Although the 51% number is controversial, the authors also point out -
Although methane warms the atmosphere much more strongly than does CO2, its half-life in the atmosphere is only about 8 years, versus at least 100 years for CO2. As a result, a significant reduction in livestock raised worldwide would reduce GHGs relatively quickly compared with measures involving renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The 2018 study at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/… states —
We find that direct livestock non-CO2 emissions caused about 19% of the total modelled warming of 0.81°C from all anthropogenic sources in 2010. CO2 from pasture conversions contributed at least another 0.03°C, bringing the warming directly attributable to livestock to 23% of the total warming in 2010.
The significance of direct livestock emissions to future warming depends strongly on global actions to reduce emissions from other sectors. Direct non-CO2 livestock emissions would contribute only about 5% of the warming in 2100 if emissions from other sectors increase unabated, but could constitute as much as 18% (0.27°C) of the warming in 2100 if global CO2 emissions from other sectors are reduced to near or below zero by 2100
Exact numbers vary across studies depending on whether they count indirect sources of livestock emissions (land use, feed-stock, etc). 14.5% to 18% are widely used numbers as the contribution of livestock related emissions.
Here is some data from large.stanford.edu/… about the water usage and carbon footprint of beef vs plants based products.
The following chart shows the unsustainable growth of global meat production (and consumption), with explosive growth in Asia, as demand for meat rises along with income levels.
Impossible Burger 2.0 Ingredients
Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors,
2% or less of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate,
Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Sodium Ascorbate (Vitamin C), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.
faq.impossiblefoods.com/...
What is Soy leghemoglobin?
Soy leghemoglobin is short for legume hemoglobin -- the hemoglobin found in soy. Leghemoglobin is a protein found in plants that carries heme, an iron-containing molecule that is essential for life. Heme is found in every living being -- both plants and animals. (Heme in animals is carried by "hemoglobin" and “myoglobin” among other proteins) faq.impossiblefoods.com/...
Earlier, the company harvested leghemoglobin directly from the roots of soy plants. But that method was not scaleable.
So, they engineered a yeast with the gene for soy leghemoglobin. The yeast is grown using fermentation, from which the soy leghemoglobin is isolated. So yes, the product uses a genetically modified organism (GMO) but the end product itself is one found in nature.
Beyond Heme
The team spent several years researching meat and what makes it appealing to most consumers - from its sizzle and smell to its taste and nutrition. The researchers then searched the plant world and created a chemical library of proteins and fats derived from plants and experimented with them as additional ingredients to mimic the texture of meat.
To replicate the fat in hamburgers made from cows, they used flecks of coconut fat, which were mixed with ground textured wheat and potato protein. Potato protein provides a firm exterior when the "meat" is seared. The coconut oil stays solid until heated, when it melts in a similar manner to beef fat.
Some more Videos of the Technology
The product is obviously not restricted in use to burgers; it can be used in other recipes that use ground meat.
Nutritional Facts
The Impossible Burger is nutritionally somewhat better than beef. It has more protein, less total fat, no cholesterol, and fewer calories than a similar-sized hamburger patty made with beef, but contains more sodium and saturated fats. I suppose salt and fat are what make burgers taste good.
The heavy dose of Thiamin (Vitamin B1) is apparently safe and used primarily for flavoring.
Comparison between IB 2.0 patty and BK Whopper patty -
| ITEM |
BK WHOPPER PATTY |
IB PATTY |
| Calories |
230 |
240 |
| Fat(g) |
17 |
14 |
| Saturated Fat(g) |
8 |
8 |
| Trans Fat(g) |
0.5 |
0 |
| Cholesterol(mg) |
65 |
0 |
| Sodium(mg) |
70 |
370 |
| Carbohydrates(g) |
0 |
9 |
| Fiber(g) |
0 |
3 |
| Sugar(g) |
0 |
< 1 |
| Protein(g) |
19 |
19 |
| Vitamins, minerals |
trace |
lots |
BK nutrition info from www.fatsecret.com/…
Reviews
“It hit all the same pleasure centers in my body as when I eat a well-made burger at a restaurant. I loved the rush of salt and fat, the chew, and the beef-like taste in every bite. A pleasurable burger from start to finish” — www.thrillist.com/…
“This definitely had that naughty, fatty taste and texture I was looking for.. I think it will be big news and hopefully, the environmental impact of cattle farming can be diminished if people switch to this type of burger over beef.” - www.bbcgoodfood.com/…
See www.cheatsheet.com/… for more reviews.
The Burger King Announcement
There are a number of other restaurants, including White Castle, Wahlburgers and Red Robin, which offer burgers made with the Impossible Burger.
The product is not cheap yet. Red Robin charges a $3.50 premium for the Impossible Burger patty. BK will charge a dollar extra. But this is just the beginning and prices are expected to fall. The cost of growing yeast in vats has to be significantly lower than that of rearing an animal for months until it can be slaughtered.
Investors
The company has investments from several high profile venture capital groups including Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Viking Global Investors, UBS, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Hong Kong-based Sailing Capital.
Other Plant-Based Meat products
There are several other plant based meat products including www.beyondmeat.com/….
en.wikipedia.org/… has a good list.
There are also efforts to grow meat in labs and factories using cell culture.
The Empire Strikes Back
The author of the Missouri Farm Bureau followed up with another article providing some ammunition to its community on how to fight this threat to the animal industry.
Surely there’s some good news, though, right? Absolutely. First of all, price is a major consideration in any food-buying decision. The makers of these products know they will not be taking major market share away from animal agriculture unless they can be at cost parity, or even less expensive than beef. The plant-based Impossible Whopper costs $5.49, whereas the regular Whopper is a dollar less at $4.49. That’s about a 22% premium for the Impossible version.
That’s head-in-the-sand thinking that the plant-based meat made by a nascent industry will continue to remain more expensive than animal meat.
Our industry has the tools to make a stand and remain the dominant way of providing the protein and nutrients our bodies need. These companies are playing on emotions, making hugely misleading claims about the impact of animal agriculture on our bodies and planet, and claiming to be saving the world from our evil industry.
Livestock farmers must stand up for their products. We must continue to articulate how well animals are treated by farmers. We must share why raising animals is good for the environment. We must continue to educate consumers on why livestock products are nutritionally superior for us and our children. We have a good story to tell.
We have to be proactive in combatting this coming wave of ill-intentioned profiteers. This is an intense challenge to our industry, and we must continue to fight. The facts are on our side.
I presume the culture wars will intensify given the republican party’s opposition to anything green. There will be the usual cacophony of right-wing media making claims of how soy-based foods will take away your manhood, etc.
Epilogue
Besides vegetarian and vegan foods, which definitely help reduce our impact on the environment, this is another useful product which targets a different consumer group, one that prefers to eat meat for various reasons. The effect on our carbon (and land and water) footprint will be enormous even if a small fraction of meat consumed worldwide in restaurants and homes is replaced by this or similar products. Soy and other plant-based milk products have had a similar effect on dairy consumption.
Of course this is no silver bullet. There are many other issues and approaches in solving our environmental problems. But every solution helps and can lead the way to better solutions. And not to forget, fossil fuels are still the biggest contributor to GHG and we need to keep working on all fronts.
As Einstein famously said — “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
What do you think?
Further Reading
- impossiblefoods.com
- en.wikipedia.org/…
- Does the New Impossible Burger Actually Taste Like Real Meat? We Found Out. — www.thrillist.com/…
- Impossible Burger 2.0 Taste Test: Shockingly Good — www.tomsguide.com/…
- These 15 Best (and Worst) Reviews of the Impossible Burger Might Shock You - www.cheatsheet.com/…
- 2019 Could Be A Turning Point For Plant-Based And Cultured Meats — www.forbes.com/…
- The Impossible Burger is a wake-up call to the meat industry — www.washingtonpost.com/…
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How much do direct livestock emissions actually contribute to global warming? — www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...
