A Vegetarian Reviews the Impossible Burger

It all started when my husband gave me a puppy for my birthday. One afternoon, I realized that if our dog zipped around the yard in loopy, joy-driven circles, had favorite toys, freaked whenever we made a move to leave the house--if, in short, she led a rich emotional life, so too must the cow and pig. That revelation led me to a vegetarian diet.

Almost 20 years later, I still occasionally miss a juices-running-down-my wrist burger, so I was excited to hear about a plant-based “meat” burger that promised what veggie burgers just can’t offer: a truly beef-like experience that didn’t involve a cow.

At Burgatory in Robinson Township, the Impossible Burger ($13) comes topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, dill pickles & bomb sauce on a potato bun, similar to their Standard Deluxe beef burger ($11). It arrives nicely caramelized and smoky from the grill, with that typical beef burger exterior of crispy bits and sizzling fat. But the revelation is in biting into an Impossible Burger; its moist interior is pink, and when squeezed, leaks what looks, and tastes, like beef juices into the bun.

But is it nutritious? Better for the planet?  According to parent company Impossible Foods’s website, the burger is made from soy and potato protein for “a meaty bite;” heme for “a craveable taste;” coconut and sunflower oils to make it “sizzle on the griddle;” and food starch to bind it.

Heme? Heme gives meat its, well, “meaty” taste.  It’s found naturally in both animals and plants,  but more abundantly in meat.  Impossible Foods extracts heme from soybean plants and inserts the DNA into a genetically engineered yeast. The yeast is then fermented before being made into burgers.

When compared to the restaurant standard of 80/20 beef (20% fat), an Impossible Burger is 240 calories, versus beef’s 290.  Fat is lower and cholesterol nonexistent in the Impossible Burger but sodium is noticeably higher (although the beef in the comparison is unseasoned, and who eats an unseasoned burger?).

Impossible Burgers use 96% less land and 87% less water than beef cattle to generate each four-ounce burger.  While some may cringe at the idea of genetically-modified fermented yeast, for me the reduced ecological footprint and cruelty-free nature of plant-based “meat,” add up to one tasty burger.

For more nutritional information, and to learn more about the environmental impacts of the Impossible Burger, log onto www.impossiblefoods.com. Or try one at Burgatory.

Story by Doug Florey. Photograph courtesy of BurgatoryBar.com

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