Heme + The Science Behind ImpossibleTM
(FEEDING THE PLANET)
MAKING MEAT FROM PLANTS
Before Impossible Foods, there was meat and there were plants. Back in 2011, we started with a simple question: "What makes meat taste like meat?" Then we figured out how to make it with plants. You know our products. Now, meet the team and technology behind it all.
TINY MOLECULE, BIG FLAVOR.
Heme is what makes meat taste like meat. It’s an essential molecule found in every living plant and animal -- most abundantly in animals -- and something we’ve been eating and craving since the dawn of humanity. Here at Impossible Foods, our plant-based heme is made via fermentation of genetically engineered yeast, and safety-verified by America’s top food-safety experts and peer-reviewed academic journals. Watch more below.
(OUR PROCESS)
MAKING HEME
We started by extracting heme from the root nodules of soybean plants, but we knew there was a better way. So we took the DNA from these soy plants and inserted it into a genetically engineered yeast. We ferment this yeast (very similar to the way Belgian beer is made) to produce heme. Why use genetic engineering? Read all about it.
HAVE QUESTIONS?
We have answers.
*In home usage studies, 69% of 704 U.S. consumers who cooked with Impossible™ Burger thought the taste was comparable to or better than ground beef from cows, and 78% of 407 U.S. consumers thought it sizzled like ground beef from cows.