Impossible Foods’ meatless burger is touted as healthy and environmentally responsible. Claire Robinson and Dr Michael Antoniou take a look at the evidence behind the hype

Summary:
* Impossible Foods’ meatless burger is marketed as a healthy and environmentally responsible choice.
* The key ingredient that gives the Impossible Burger its meaty taste and makes it bleed like meat when cut is soy leghemoglobin (SLH), derived from genetically engineered yeast.
* The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused to sign off on the safety of SLH, which has never been in the human food supply before.
* The FDA is also concerned that SLH may be an allergen.
* The Impossible Burger contains a number of other ingredients that are derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
* Some ingredients in the Burger are highly processed and are produced in industrial vats (“fermentation”).
* The GM yeast must be grown in a nutrient-rich broth made of chemically synthesized ingredients that are themselves industrially manufactured.
* Overall, the manufacturing processes for the Impossible Burger are materials-hungry and energy-hungry. These facts are being ignored in promotional claims about the environmental impact of the Burger.
* The Impossible Burger represents the opposite of what today’s health-aware and environmentally conscious consumers want from their food: pure, natural, non-GMO ingredients that are transparently sourced.

Read the full article on the GMOScience website:
https://www.gmoscience.org/impossible-burger-boon-risk-health-environment/