In the new beyond meat national ad for the “We Are Meat” campaign advertisers say “You’ll find this meat wherever you buy meat”. The impossible burger is made from soy protein, coconut oil, and other plant-based ingredients and it’s one of the best imitation meat substitutes on the market, according to consumers.

Of course, it’s not real meat. So, should advertisers really refer to it as such? When asked if the company felt that the Impossible Burger qualified as meat, Rachel Konrad, chief communications officer said “Yes we do. Anatomically, molecule for molecule our product and our product uniquely has the secret sauce of what makes meat, meat.”

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It’s a compelling argument. If a food looks just like meat at the molecular level—a claim The Counter can’t independently confirm, by the way—can’t it simply be called “meat,” regardless of its origin?

In a new ad campaign, Impossible Foods calls its plant-based burger “meat.” Can it do that?

This is in reference to soy leghemoglobin, the company’s soy-based hemoglobin, which makes blood red, giving the Impossible’s ground beef the ability to “bleed” like real meat.

The FTC says in their “Deception Statement” that a product can be deceptive if it contains a “material omission or misrepresentation” that may mislead consumers “to their detriment”. There are currently no FDA regulations for plant-based meat advertising language.

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While restaurants are lining up to add Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods‘ products to their menus Chipotle Mexican Grill doesn’t want them.

Chipotle provides a menu that contains only 51 ingredients, less than every other major restaurant chain. Chipotle offers “Plant-powered Lifestyle Bowls” and they use sofritas as their meat substitute for their vegetarian customers, which is made from tofu. Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol says that the fake meat products are too processed for their restaurant.

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We have spoken to those folks and unfortunately it wouldn’t fit in our ‘food with integrity’ principles because of the processing, as I understand it, that it takes to make a plant taste like a burger,” Niccol said in an interview. “If there’s a way for them to do this that would match our ‘food with integrity’ principles, I’m sure we would continue talking with them.”

Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol

Beyond Meat’s CEO responded with an invitation, suggesting that Beyond Meat’s factory is much better than what they’d find visiting a factory-farm.

You can come to our facility anytime. Don’t call me, just knock on the door. I invite you to do the same with all of Chipotle’s meat-processing facilities. They won’t let you, and if they did, you wouldn’t want to see it.”

CEO Ethan Brown

Many consumers are looking towards more sustainable foods and becoming more aware of the environmental costs and animal cruelty involved with factory farming. But consumers are also becoming more concerned with health problems with processed foods and GMOs.

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Both Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods develop their faux meat with highly processed plant-based ingredients. Beyond Meat’s uses pea protein as their main ingredient. Impossible Foods GMO soy and heme which is made from genetically modified yeast.

The world is finally realizing the dangers of glyphosate in our food system. Costco is planning to ban glyphosate from their stores, and Bayer is facing a plethora of lawsuits for the cancer-causing herbicide.

The world is also beginning to understand the problems with our food system and we’re starting to seriously look for alternatives to factory farmed meat.

We love the idea of meat-alternatives in an effort to adopt a more ecologically friendly and human approach to feeding the population. We have to find alternatives to factory farming. And the meat-alternative that’s all the rage today is the Impossible Burger. Burger King is rolling out the Impossible Whopper nationwide this year. White Castle, Hard Rock Cafe, Red Robin, Cheesecake Factory, and hundreds of other restaurants already have the Impossible Burger on their menu.

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Unfortunately, the Impossible burger is not a healthy or environmentally conscious alternative to beef. Mom’s Across America reports that the Health Research Institute Laboratories found levels of glyphosate in the Impossible burger to be alarmingly high.

The total result (glyphosate and its break down AMPA) was 11.3 ppb. Moms Across America also tested the Beyond Meat Burger and the results were 1 ppb. These are levels eleven times higher than levels within the Beyond Meat Burger.

We are shocked to find that the Impossible Burger can have up to 11X higher levels of glyphosate residues than the Beyond Meat Burger according to these samples tested. This new product is being marketed as a solution for “healthy” eating, when in fact 11 ppb of glyphosate herbicide consumption can be highly dangerous. Only 0.1 ppb of glyphosate has been shown to alter the gene function of over 4000 genes in the livers, kidneys and cause severe organ damage in rats.**** I am gravely concerned that consumers are being misled to believe the Impossible Burger is healthy.”

Zen Honeycutt, Executive Director of Moms Across America

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Soy and wheat crops that are often heavily sprayed with glyphosate. The CEO of Impossible Foods recently announced that the soy patties will be made using GMO soy. Previously the Impossible Burger was being made with a textured wheat protein, but in order to meet demand, they switched to a non-GM soy protein concentrate, and are now switching to genetically engineered soy. The CEO & Founder of Impossible Foods, Pat Brown, said that GM soy is “the safest and most environmentally responsible option that would allow us to scale our production and meet demand.”

One the switch is made to GM soy the glyphosate levels in the Impossible Burger are likely to rise. Genetically-modified soy is a “Roundup Ready” product.

Common Drea,s broke down the CEOs clams in an excellent article titled, 6 Reasons Impossible Burger’s CEO Is Wrong About GMO Soy.

“Meat” grown in a lab is a hot trend right now, with manufacturers jumping over each other in a quest to be in on the next big food craze. Scientists, environmentalists, and entrepreneurs are extremely excited by the prospect of meeting the world’s growing demand for meat with only a fraction of the resources needed by our current factory farming system. One company, Impossible Foods, has been carried away in that excitement. They began selling their soy leghemoglobin derived Impossible Burger in 2016, despite not being generally recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

Putting Sustainability First

Cultured “meat” is an enticing proposition. The Impossible Burger uses 95% less land, 74% less water, and creates 87% less greenhouse gas emissions than its cow-sourced counterparts. It’s also free of antibiotics, artificial ingredients, and hormones. This particular cultured meat is made from soy leghemoglobin genes and a genetically modified yeast not unlike that found in common Belgian beers.

Leghemoglobin is a hemoprotein found in the root nodules of leguminous plants – in this case, soy. Once these hemoproteins are broken down, they release heme. Heme contains iron and carries oxygen in the blood, making the veggie burger “bleed” and giving it a meaty texture and flavor. Making the burger entirely out of these root nodules would be expensive and would increase its negative environmental impact, but Impossible Foods, the company behind Impossible Burger, combines the soy leghemoglobin gene to a yeast strain and then grows the yeast via fermentation.  

Can You Eat It?

Sustainable? Yes. But is it safe?

Impossible Foods says yes. The burger has been reviewed by a panel of experts, with scientists from the University of Nebraska, University of Wisconsin and Virginia Commonwealth University generally recognizing it as safe. Rats studies have been conducted, and there were no adverse effects from the soy leghemoglobin protein, even when feeding the rats 200 times the amount a human is expected to consume.

But the magical yeast that allows the company to produce their burger causes other problems. There are more than 40 other unidentified proteins in the impossible burger. In the words of Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumer’s Union, “It’s only 73 percent pure, the other 27 percent is from proteins from the genetically engineered yeast that produces it, and these [proteins] have an unknown function…” Due to these unidentified proteins, the FDA told Impossible Foods that the burger was unlikely to be recognized as safe.

What is Progress?

The Impossible Burger has been available at select restaurants since 2016. Impossible Foods does not need the FDA to categorize the burger as generally recognized as safe to sell it. This isn’t actually illegal, as the FDA’s self-affirmation program does not require new ingredients to be approved. We only have any of this information because Impossible Foods tried to go one step further in the regulation process, applying for the FDA’s GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status.

Impossible Foods has a mission, and that mission is an admirable and necessary one. Forget about figuring out if it’s real or not, climate change is here. Factory farming is not sustainable, even as the demand for meat is still growing. More consumers are looking for quality sustainable or vegan/vegetarian options, and Impossible Foods wants to serve that market. Their website emphasizes their sustainability.

They also make a point to push transparency and encourage questions. That will be crucial for a generation that is looking for corporations to step in where the government is not addressing their needs and concerns.

The food system has to change or it will collapse. Many companies have been stepping up their environmental bona fides in response the Environmental Protection Agency’s current irresponsibility. It remains to be seen if the FDA can cope with the demands of the rapidly evolving demands and realities of a sustainable food system. 

Sources:

• Impossible Burger’s ‘Secret Sauce’ Highlights Challenges of Food Tech – NY Times
• Untested GMO Ingredient Illegally Sold Without FDA Approval – Cornucopia Institute
• Frequently Asked Questions – Impossible Foods
• Silicon Valley’s Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes And Sizzles Like Meat – NPR