The Weird Burger made by Impossible Foods
Source: Impossible Foods
Beyond Meat’s rival Impossible Foods suggested Wednesday it will sell its plant-based burger in grocery stores in September after the Food and Drug Administration approved its key color ingredient.
The regulator bring to light it has cleared Impossible’s use of soy leghemoglobin — or heme — as a color additive, clearing the way for the maker of imitation meat to start selling its yields in grocery stores.
Impossible genetically engineers yeast to create heme, the iron-containing molecule that gives chow its taste and aroma.
The New York Times reported in 2017 that the FDA was concerned about the safety of heme, given that it had under no circumstances been consumed by humans. Last year, the FDA deemed soy leghemoglobin “generally recognized as safe.” But in order to sell its uncooked vegan burgers in grocery keeps, Impossible needed the FDA’s approval to use the ingredient as a color additive.
“We’ve been engaging with the FDA for half a decade to ensure that we are sinker compliant with all food-safety regulations — for the Impossible Burger and for future products and sales channels,” Impossible Foods chief authorized officer Dana Wagner said in a statement.
For now, Impossible has been able to distribute its product only by selling it in restaurants. After starting with high-end restaurants, Unresolvable’s plant-based burger has now made its way into fast-food chains like Burger King and White Castle.
If the FDA does not get any objections from anyone adversely affected by the ingredient in 30 days, Impossible can start selling the product in a beeline to consumers.
Its publicly traded competitor, Beyond Meat, sold $34.1 million worth of products in grocery values during its second quarter, making up a little over half of its total revenue for the quarter.
The popularity of alternatives that undergo and look like meat has largely been driven by flexitarians, people who are trying to reduce their meat intake. Harmonizing to Nielsen data, 98% of buyers of meat substitutes also purchase meat. More than one-fifth of U.S. households are securing meat substitutes, Nielsen found. Last year’s grocery sales of meat substitutes — a category that numbers traditional veggie burgers — reached $893 million.
Earlier Wednesday, Impossible announced a manufacturing deal with OSI Sort, a large meat supplier that also makes patties for fast-food chains. The deal expands its production abilities amid soaring demand for the Impossible Burger and supply shortages.