Out of all the Impossible Burger's ingredients, there's one that makes the seemingly impossible possible
It wasn’t all that long ago that the idea of plant-based meat sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie, and even after the Impossible Burger made it a reality in 2016, many people believed this futuristic “meat” was nothing but a passing curiosity. Yet even if people weren’t entirely sure what the Impossible Burger ingredients were (how can plants taste so much like meat?!), the impossibility of the burger appealed to everyone: vegans, vegetarians and omnivores who were interested in incorporating some meatless meals.
But there is a gap between the production of plant-based meat and its adoption. Sure, it’s one of the safest “meats” to eat. But burger fans often wonder, What is Impossible Meat made of? And will it give me that good ol’ meaty taste?
To find out exactly what the Impossible Burger’s ingredients are, we reached out to two experts: Emily Wagener, a regional industry leader for food enzymes at International Flavors & Fragrances, and Stephanie Feldstein, a population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Ahead, you’ll learn what the impossible meat ingredients are, how producing these faux-meat patties affects the environment and what allergens you need to be aware of before you eat the burger.
Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more food facts, travel, trivia, cleaning and humor all week long.
What is Impossible Burger’s “secret ingredient”?
One of the less-recognizable Impossible Meat ingredients, heme is the brand’s secret weapon and the reason the plant-based patties taste like a dead ringer for meat. Impossible describes heme as a molecule found in every living plant and animal that people always eat and crave. This iron-rich molecule is mostly in red meat, and it helps the Impossible Burger mimic the “bleeding juices” of real burgers. According to the company’s website, Impossible Foods sources the protein-containing heme from genetically engineered yeast.
That yeast is another of the key Impossible Burger ingredients. “Yeasts are relatively easy to genetically modify so that they can spit out precise waste products,” says Wagener. “This is why they are a solid choice for producing ‘magical’ products, like the special heme protein that makes meat ‘meat.'”
The genetically modified yeast goes through a fermentation to make lots of heme-containing protein, similar to how the Belgians make beer. Wagener notes that aside from producing heme, yeast has another important part to play as an Impossible Burger ingredient: adding to the flavor. “Yeast extracts are a key component in many savory food products for their ability to impart a lovely umami flavor,” she says.
What are the other Impossible Burger ingredients?
The list of Impossible Burger ingredients includes plants—but it’s not 100% veggies. Water, textured wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein and natural flavors are all major ingredients.
Apart from this, the Impossible burger also has 2% or less of: leghemoglobin (soy), yeast extract, salt, konjac gum, xanthan gum, soy protein isolate, vitamin E, vitamin C, thiamin (vitamin B1), zinc, niacin, vitamin B6, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin B12.
Does Impossible Burger have any allergens?
The most common allergens on the Impossible Burger ingredients list are alliums (including onion and garlic) and soy—both are in all of Impossible Foods’ products. The Chicken Meat from Plants and Beef Hot Dogs Meat from Plants also contain wheat.
Apart from this, the Impossible Burger and allied products do not contain dairy, eggs, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish or sesame. The official website states they’re safe for those with alpha-gal syndrome, a type of food allergy.
Still unsure whether an Impossible Burger is safe for you? Before you dig in, check the full ingredient list on the specific food you plan to eat.
How many calories are in the Impossible Burger?
A single 4-ounce Impossible Burger patty has 240 calories. Here are the full nutrition facts for one patty (listed alongside the percent of their recommended daily allowances):
- Fat: 14 g (18% RDA)
- Saturated fat: 8 g (40% RDA)
- Trans fats: 0 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Sodium: 370 mg (16% RDA)
- Carbohydrates: 9 g (3% RDA)
- Dietary fiber: 3 g (11% RDA)
- Sugar: <1 g
- Protein: 19 g (31% RDA)
- Calcium: 170 mg (15% RDA)
- Iron: 4.2 mg (25% RDA)
- Potassium: 610 mg (15% RDA)
- Thiamin: 30% RDA
- Riboflavin: 15% RDA
- Niacin: 50% RDA
- Vitamin B6: 20% RDA
- Folate: 30% RDA
- Vitamin B12: 130% RDA
- Phosphorus: 15% RDA
- Zinc: 50% RDA
Is Impossible Burger good for the environment?
Make no mistake about it: All plant-based burgers are better for the environment than beef. Your butcher may not tell you this, but beef production is one of the leading contributors to climate change. When forests are cleared to make room for farms and livestock, large stores of carbon are released into the atmosphere, which heats up the planet.
Cattle emit large amounts of methane gas, which is 30 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in our atmosphere and warming the planet. Raising livestock also consumes a tremendous amount of resources—they drink about one-third of all freshwater and eat about 34% of all crops grown globally.
“The most popular plant-based alternatives, Beyond and Impossible Burgers, produce about 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions in comparison with beef,” says Feldstein. “They reduce land use by at least 93% and water use by 87% to 99%. They also generate no manure pollution.”
How does Impossible Burger measure up against Beyond Meat?
There are a ton of new plant-based meats hitting the market (with more to come!), but the two biggest players in the game are Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. Both do a great job of mimicking the taste of beef and are nutritionally on par with real meat, but there are some notable differences between the two.
Impossible Foods uses soy as its main protein source, but Beyond Meat is built on pea protein. Instead of using heme to make its burgers “bleed,” Beyond Meat uses beet extract to give them a reddish, beefier appearance. Beyond Meat burgers also have less saturated fat than both Impossible and beef burgers.
As far as animal welfare is concerned, the burgers from Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are both vegan, but Impossible Foods admitted to using animal testing to certify its heme protein was safe for human consumption. Because of this, the Impossible Burger can not be certified vegan, even though it is 100% free of animal products. Beyond Meat, on the other hand, has had its products certified as vegan by the Vegan Action Foundation.
Speaking of certifications, the Impossible Burger is certified kosher by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU) and halal by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). Beyond Meat is also kosher and halal, with its certifications coming from Organized Kashrut (K) and Islamic Services of America (ISA).
FAQs
How is the heme in the Impossible Burger different from animal meat?
Though it’s the same ingredient, the heme in plant-based meat comes from plant sources, while the heme in animal-based meat comes from animal sources.
The heme that’s one of the main Impossible Burger ingredients is derived from soy. Food scientists genetically modify yeast with a gene that produces soy leghemoglobin, a protein that contains heme. Animal-based heme, on the other hand, is carried by proteins like hemoglobin.
What are the side effects of the Impossible Burger?
There are no known side effects of eating the Impossible Burger. The Food and Drug Administration has deemed heme safe, as have food safety experts across the world.
But that doesn’t mean the plant-based burger is a health food. Harvard Medical School suggests that meatless burgers may be high in saturated fat and sodium. And obviously, if you’re allergic to any of the ingredients, you can have a bad response to the burger and will want to avoid eating it in the first place.
Is the Impossible Burger a highly processed food?
Yes, plant-based burgers go through significant processing—far more than animal meat. That’s because plants don’t behave like animal meats in their natural state.
But don’t strike them off your grocery list just yet. A 2022 study found that despite being heavily processed, these faux meat products actually deliver high-quality nutrition. Discounting them as ultra-processed foods skips over their nutritional benefits, like high-quality protein and iron.
It’s worth noting that the Impossible Burger contains less cholesterol and trans fat than beef patties—and no animal hormones or antibiotics. But like imitation crab, it often contains higher levels of sodium
About the experts
|
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Emily Wagener, regional industry leader for food enzymes at International Flavors & Fragrances
- Stephanie Feldstein, director of the population and sustainability program at the Center for Biological Diversity
- Science Direct: “The water footprint of poultry, pork and beef: A comparative study in different countries and production systems”
- Anthropocene Magazine: “We can feed the world—if we reclaim our crops from livestock”
- Bloomberg: “Cutting down on cow burps to ease climate change”
- Medium: “Heme & Health: The Essentials”
- All the Research: “Global Plant-based Meat Market – Segment Analysis, Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Intelligence, Industry Outlook 2016-2026”
- World Resources Institute: “6 Pressing Questions About Beef and Climate Change, Answered”
- Impossible Foods: “The Agonizing Dilemma of Animal Testing”
- Impossible Foods: “What allergens do your products contain?”
- Impossible Foods: “Ingredients”
- Impossible Foods: “What is soy leghemoglobin, or heme?”
- Harvard Health: “Impossible and Beyond: How healthy are these meatless burgers?”
- Impossible Foods: “How do I know heme is safe?”
- Advances in Nutrition: “Perspective: Soy-based Meat and Dairy Alternatives, Despite Classification as Ultra-processed Foods, Deliver High-quality Nutrition on Par with Unprocessed or Minimally Processed Animal-based Counterparts”
- Impossible Foods: “Trust the Process”
