A New Breed of Veggie Burgers: 6 Things You Should Know

One of the most popular sandwiches in America, the hamburger, is also for many one of the hardest dishes to give up when switching to a plant-based diet. Fortunately, for those who want a substitution, alternatives abound at restaurants and in the grocery store. The plant-based “meat” industry saw sales top $670 million in the last year, up 24% from the year prior, according to the Plant Based Foods Association. What goes into the production of recent entries in the alternative burger market that claim to smell, taste, look and cook like meat, such as the Impossible Burger™ (pictured here) and Beyond Burger? Here are some facts to chew on about newcomers to the plant-based burger world.

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1. Both Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger are highly processed foods.

2. Both Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger have zero cholesterol, as opposed to the 100 milligrams of cholesterol in an 85-percent lean beef burger. (Cholesterol itself is only found in animal products.)
 
3. Both the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger have more than five times as much sodium as an unseasoned beef patty.
 
4. What makes the Impossible Burger “bleed?” A protein called soy leghemoglobin (SLH), also known as heme, which is derived from genetically engineered yeast. The company removed the SLH gene from the soybean and used genetic engineering technology to insert it into a strain of yeast. The resulting genetically modified (GM) yeast is grown at an industrial scale in vats, a process known as fermentation. The SLH is then isolated from the yeast and added to the Impossible Burger.
 
5. The Impossible Burger is made mostly of soy and potato proteins, coconut oil and heme.
 
6. The Beyond Burger is made of water, pea protein isolate, canola oil, refined coconut oil, potato starch, natural flavor and yeast extract. Beet juice extract gives the burger its red color.

Updated June 28, 2021