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The science behind the Impossible Burger

2,341 Views | 15 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Garrelli 5000
HustlerAggie
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Thought this was kind of interesting about the science behind the meatless burger (the "Impossible Burger") that tastes like you are eating meat:

biobioprof
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Kenji tried these back in October 2016

An interesting thing they kind of slide by in the video. Leghemoglobin is found in the root nodules of N2 fixing legumes like soy and alfalfa. Our soy production is based on harvesting the beans. The roots etc. get returned to the soil as part of the enrichment you get from crop rotation. Harvesting Leghemoglobin from root nodules is probably hard... which is solved by what you can see in this pdf of an application to the FDA from Impossible Foods.
Quote:

On behalf of Impossible Foods Inc. ("Impossible Foods"), we are submitting under cover of this letter three paper copies and one eCopy of Impossible Foods generally recognized as safe ("GRAS") notification for its soybean leghemoglobin protein derived from Pichia pastoris.
Pichia pastoris isn't a plant. It's a species of yeast used for protein expression in biotech.

So, in addition to being full of gluten, fat, and sodium... it's a GMO product. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, but I suspect some of their target market doesn't share my love of GMOs.
AggieChemist
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AG
The thread title made me open this thread first. I was intrigued.

Then I found out we weren't even talking about meat and I got the sad.
bigtruckguy3500
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I find this burger interesting. Personally, I like meat. A lot. But, if the cost of this burger and similar meat-like products comes down, I'd be willing to drop my meat consumption.
HustlerAggie
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biobioprof said:

it's a GMO product. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, but I suspect some of their target market doesn't share my love of GMOs.

Oh, I am definitely proudly pro-GMO. If something says "non-GMO" on the label, I go out of my way to buy something else.
HustlerAggie
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bigtruckguy3500 said:

I find this burger interesting. Personally, I like meat. A lot. But, if the cost of this burger and similar meat-like products comes down, I'd be willing to drop my meat consumption.
I am with you. I eat meat currently, although it is not completely guilt free. (i.e. There is some moral component to killing things with a brain for consumption, but not enough for me to stop eating it because it tastes so good.)

If there were a cheaper option that tasted just as good, even if it were not any healthier (or only slightly healthier), I would certainly switch. I would likely pay more to try it once or twice just because of the novelty factor.
Cancelled
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AG
That's odd. You search out gmo? I don't buy into the whole gmo thing, but that's kind of like being a smoker who refuses to smoke American Spirits because they don't contain additives and chemicals.
HustlerAggie
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queso1 said:

That's odd. You search out gmo? I don't buy into the whole gmo thing, but that's kind of like being a smoker who refuses to smoke American Spirits because they don't contain additives and chemicals.
Yes, I prefer companies that produce food in a pro-science and pro-society way.

I do realize it is not a widely held stance. (aka "odd")


Edit: The smoking thing is a terrible analogy, btw.
HustlerAggie
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Looks like they are upping their production of the burgers dramatically:

https://www.cnet.com/news/impossible-foods-ramps-up-production-of-its-lab-grown-hamburger/
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aggiebq03+
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I guess I just figure if I want something that looks, smells, feels, and tastes like meat, I'll just eat meat.

But if a bunch of other people switch to eating something other than beef I'm all for it. Keeps the beef prices down for me.
HustlerAggie
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Part of it is that I do not want to support that type of advertising as well and I believe in the power of the free market, even if I am only a small vote with my dollars. Also, obviously I will only make the switch to a pro-GMO option if such an option exists. You are free to think it is foolish if you like, but it is how I choose to spend my money.
HustlerAggie
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aggiebq03+ said:

I guess I just figure if I want something that looks, smells, feels, and tastes like meat, I'll just eat meat.

But if a bunch of other people switch to eating something other than beef I'm all for it. Keeps the beef prices down for me.
There is some truth to that, but I think some people reduce meat consumption for other reasons than look/smell/taste, like social, economic, or health reasons. (Obviously everyone is different and values things differently.)

If this quote by the article is correct, I would imagine the eventual price (at full production) would be lower than its meat counterpart (due to less inputs):

Quote:

Impossible Foods says producing one of its burgers requires only a quarter of the water and 5 percent of the land that making a conventional burger calls for, and that the process emits only 13 percent of the greenhouse gases.
bigtruckguy3500
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I can understand where Hustler is coming from. In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with GMO. In fact, I think the world would be starving right now if it weren't for GMOs. Anything people stick a non-GMO label on something, they're giving credance to the idea that GMOs are harmful. I'm ok with people wanting to buy non-GMO. I would eat non-GMO. But I'm not going to pay more money for a smaller piece of fruit.
bigtruckguy3500
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aggiebq03+ said:

I guess I just figure if I want something that looks, smells, feels, and tastes like meat, I'll just eat meat.

But if a bunch of other people switch to eating something other than beef I'm all for it. Keeps the beef prices down for me.
I'm no hippie, by any means, but I do believe that in general consuming more plant based foods is better for the environment and more sustainable. That's my angle for willing to give up some of my meat consumption in favor of something like this.
Bruce Almighty
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AG
I don't really care if something is non-GMO. If it tastes better, I'll buy it, if not, I won't.
Garrelli 5000
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AG
My only opinion of GMO/non-GMO is that people who are non-GMO worshippers are idiots. They always tend to be people who MUST have a cause. They are usually anti-vax too because Jenny McCarthy says so.
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