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, learn about the technology behind it all.
TINY MOLECULE, BIG FLAVOUR.
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 has been safety-verified by Food Standards Australia New Zealand, the US Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, the Singapore Food Agency, 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.
