does beyond use heme

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If you’re a fan of the Impossible Burger, you may have heard about the magical ingredient that helps the plant-based patty taste so similar to beef: heme. The topic can be a bit confusing, since heme is not usually something we see on ingredient lists — though if you eat meat, you’ve eaten your fair share of heme. Not to mention, your body produces its own heme. Heck, it might even be producing heme right now!Article continues below advertisement

To learn more about heme, the ingredient taking the vegan food industry by storm, read on.

On the other hand, the Beyond Burger recipe does not include heme. The company chose to avoid genetically modified ingredients in favor of combining other ingredients and manipulating them to produce a similar result.
does beyond use heme

How Does Impossible Foods Make Heme?

As explained by Impossible Foods, this is how the company genetically engineers heme from soybeans and yeast: “We started by using the heme-containing protein from the roots of soy plants. It’s called soy leghemoglobin. We took the DNA from soy plants and inserted it into a genetically engineered yeast. And we ferment this yeast—very similar to the way Belgian beer is made. But instead of producing alcohol, our yeast multiply and produce a lot of heme.”Article continues below advertisement

Basically, DNA from a soybean plant is inserted into genetically engineered yeast, which is then fermented, and in turn multiplies itself to produce more heme. Then, Impossible isolates the soy leghemoglobin from that, and adds it to the other ingredients that make up the Impossible Burger, and that combination results in a meaty flavor and texture.

Is Heme Genetically Modified?Article continues below advertisement

Yes. As Impossible Foods explains in its FAQ, the heme used is genetically modified, or GMO. While GMOs are a controversial topic, Impossible believes that it “wouldn’t be able to make a product that rivals or surpasses beef for flavor, texture, nutrition, sustainability versatility and accessibility without it.”Article continues below advertisement

What About the Heme in Impossible Burgers?

FAQ

Does beyond have heme?

The most noticeable difference between the two faux meat brands is the use of “heme.” Impossible uses it. Beyond does not, relying instead on beet juice to give it that meaty color. In terms of price, products from both companies are fairly similar.

Does Beyond Meat use hemoglobin?

Beyond Meat uses pea protein instead of soy protein, and there’s no soy leghemoglobin, which is Impossible’s key ingredient that makes the burger “bleed.” Also, Beyond Burger’s red color comes from beet extract, rather than heme from the leghemoglobin like in the Impossible patty.

What is the Beyond Meat controversy?

The problem, critics say, is that neither Beyond Meat nor Impossible Foods discloses the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions across all of its operations, supply chains or consumer waste. They also do not disclose the effects across all of their operations on forests or how much water they use.

What makes Beyond Meat red?

Though not widely available across the country just yet, their Beyond Burger, a pea protein–based patty, was the first consumer-market-ready vegan burger patty to “bleed” like real meat,* thanks to the magic color of beet juice.

Does Beyond Burger use heme?

Beyond Meat does not use heme or any other GMO ingredients in the Beyond Burger. The Beyond Burger is made entirely of plants, and since it includes no new ingredients like Impossible’s heme, Beyond did not need to test anything on animals. All in all, both the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger are great alternatives to meat.

Does Beyond Meat use heme?

The piece raises questions about heme, the GMO-derived ingredient in their Impossible Burger. We’ve received a number of questions from our Beyond Meat consumers about heme,which, we do not use. These inquiries reinforced our understanding that folks often confuse us with Impossible Foods. We get it–there are some similarities.

Does impossible have heme?

Also, though Impossible is made entirely from plant products, they have admitted in the past to testing their products on animals. From a flavor standpoint, Impossible “heme,” similar to a chemical compound found in real beef, is a major breakthrough.

Is Heme free from animal products?

In the case of the Impossible Burger, yes, heme is completely free from animal products. However, Impossible Foods did face some controversy for testing heme on rats.

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