Good news for lovers of plant-based meat. Impossible Foods, a leader in plant-based meat substitutes, has just cleared the second hurdle in getting its plant-based hemoglobin approved by the European Union. This means that the US company's famous plant-based "bleeding" burgers could soon be on sale in Europe.
Hemoglobin, which occurs naturally in animal muscle, is an iron-containing molecule that contributes to the flavor, texture, and appearance of meat. The plant-based version used by Impossible Foods is made from modified yeast.
A step forward for the meat of the future
EFSA Approves Impossible Foods' Plant Hemoglobin1 it's a great result for the group founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, former professor of biochemistry at Stanford. After passing the first safety exam in August, now only the last step is missing: the final green light from the European Commission and EU Member States.
A result that brings Europeans ever closer to a truly sustainable and tasty alternative to meat. For years, Impossible Foods has been working to create plant-based substitutes that faithfully recreate the flavor, texture and experience of traditional meat. No small feat, made possible thanks to innovative ingredients such assoy hemoglobin.
From America to Europe, plant-based meat is served
Born in California, Impossible Foods has quickly established itself as a leader in the US plant-based market. After the first Impossible Burger, which debuted in 2016 surprising everyone with its ability to “bleed” like real meat, the company has expanded the range with sausages, chicken nuggets, ground meat and many other plant-based products. A success that has crossed the American borders, arriving in Canada, Australia and Singapore.
Now, with European approval ever closer, Impossible Foods is preparing to conquer the Old Continent as well. After all, the company has never hidden its global ambitions: the goal is to propose itself as a sustainable solution to the environmental problems caused by the consumption of traditional meat, addressing in particular flexitarians2 and to those who do not want to give up taste while reducing the impact on the planet. A trend that in the last 4 years has started to grow exponentially.
The Art of Imitating Flesh (With Plants)
But how exactly does Impossible Foods recreate the meat experience using 100% plant-based ingredients? The secret lies in a combination of plant-based proteins (such as soybean and potatoes), vegetable fats (such ascoconut oil), natural flavors and, indeed, hemoglobin produced by modified yeast.
The latter is the real star: hemoglobin is in fact the molecule that gives meat its typical red color and its characteristic flavor. By reproducing this protein in the laboratory starting from plant-based raw materials, Impossible Foods manages to obtain the same effect without using animal products. An extraordinary result, which opens the doors to a future in which sustainable meat will increasingly be the protagonist on our tables.
Impossible Foods & Its Brothers: Towards a Greener (Food) Future
EFSA’s green light to Impossible Foods’ plant-based haemoglobin is news that will please not only consumers looking for tasty and sustainable alternatives, but also those who care about the future of the planet. It’s no secret that traditional meat production has a huge environmental impact in terms of water, land and resource consumption, as well as being responsible for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions.
Focusing on plant-based substitutes like those proposed by Impossible Foods can be a concrete solution to reduce our ecological footprint without giving up the pleasure of meat. Because after all, if the flavor is the same and the planet benefits, who wouldn't be willing to make an "impossible" menu change?
- THEEFSA (European Food Safety Authority) is a European Union agency that deals with food safety. Its main task is to provide independent scientific advice on risks related to food and feed. EFSA helps protect European consumers by assessing hazards in the food chain and informing the public. It is based in Parma, Italy, and was created in 2002. ↩︎
- I flexitarians are people who follow a mainly vegetarian diet, but allow themselves to eat meat or fish occasionally. In practice, they adopt a flexible diet that favors foods of plant origin, without completely excluding those of animal origin. This approach allows them to balance the benefits of a diet rich in plants with the possibility of consuming animal proteins when they want, without rigid impositions. ↩︎
