Voice of London

Meet the meatless patties aiming to revolutionise the food market

What if they told you that there is a burger that looks and tastes exactly like a burger, except that it does not include meat? The Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat SIlicon Valley startups seem to have made it happen. The days of flavourless seitan and mild tofu burgers are (almost) over, since the Beyond Meat CEO announced in October that he is planning to expand the meatless burgers to the UK in 2018.

100% plant-based and already circulating in US restaurants from 2013, they claim to recall the whole meat experience in taste, look and smell. Needless to say, the public has welcomed the meatless burgers with enthusiasm.

The promising creation catalysed the media attention for its potential repercussions on the environment and the meat market. Personalities such as Bill Gates, Mc Donald’s CEO and, most lately. Leonardo DiCaprio have invested in the startups, hoping to reduce the uncountable global meat intake. With an extra 55 million raised from funding, Beyond Meat stated to be ready to triple its production capacity. While the key ingredient for Beyond Meat is pea protein, Impossible Foods features heme, an iron containing molecule highly concentrated in red meats. Apparently, it is because of heme that gives meat its characteristic taste.  Scientists behind Impossible Foods found a way to genetically harvest soy heme and make the Impossible Burger almost unrecognisable from the real thing.

Words: Giulia Trinci