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Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

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Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#121

Post by chipotle_coyote »

Danihan wrote: post #27
concinds wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check the ingredients list: >Full Ingredient List: >Water, Textured Wheat Protein, Coconut Oil, Potato Protein, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of: Leghemoglobin (soy), Yeast Extract, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Konjac Gum, Xanthan Gum, Thiamin (Vitamin B1), Zinc, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12. >Contains: >Soy, Wheat This contains soy. My comment stands.

I love how highly, highly processed foods are suddenly A-OK to many people here once it's a fake meat product. >But high-temperature processing has the unfortunate side effect of so denaturing the other proteins in soy that they are rendered largely ineffective.23 That's why animals on soy feed need lysine supplements for normal growth. >Nitrites, which are potent carcinogens, are formed during spray-drying, and a to…

There's no gentle way to make the complaint about I'm about to: going to Mercola.com for good health science is roughly equivalent to referring to the Flat Earth Society for good GPS algorithms. Joe Mercola has developed a multimillion dollar business which is essentially built on telling his audience that everything in the world is poisonous unless he sells it to them. When I say he's one of the folks who believe that fluoridation is a nefarious government conspiracy, I am not kidding. He also believes coffee enemas will fight cancer. Again, I am not making this up.

There's conflicting evidence about soy's health benefits, which is a sentence that is, generally speaking, just as true after a "s/soy/any_damn_food" operation. Nitrites are highly toxic in quantity, but in small quantity, they've been used in food processing since the Middle Ages. It's what you cure meat with. Most of the nitrites in your diet, though, are naturally occurring.

And while no one claims MSG has massive health benefits, it's been extremely well established that it's harmless. It's just a salt. I'm sure Doc Mercola will tell me the decades of tests that show it's safe are simply a sign that every first world health agency is in the pocket of Big Umami, but y'know, color me skeptical.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#122

Post by AntonyGarand »

ugh123 wrote: post #91

Has any thought been given to the long-term economic consequences of something like this replacing animal products in the market? The price of commodity corn shot up when production of corn-based ethanol became popular as well as other uses of corn. I'm not sure if the agricultural industry would be ready to support a large shift towards this very easily.

It actually requires a lot less lands to make a plant-based burger than a beef-based one, as you're skipping a whole ladder in the chain.

I believe the ratio is between 6 and 8 times less land for beef, although you should definetly research this number if you're interested.

This makes plant-based burger and vegetarian/vegan foods a lot more eco-friendly and requires less land to produce, which is a problem most developped countries are facing

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#123

Post by PerfectElement »

aphextron wrote: post #26

What is it with first-world vegans/vegetarians wanting to eat these extremely processed imitation meat frozen foods? There is an entire tradition of vegetarian cuisine around the world from Rasta Ital, to Hindu Sattvic, Afghani, and Thai which you could learn with just a tiny bit of effort.

For the same reason people eat processed meat: taste. If processing plants can make them taste better for some people, then what's the big deal? It looks like you are trying to associate processed foods with "first world vegans/vegetarians".

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#124

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

benjaminjackman wrote: post #117
killjoywashere wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend in LA got my brother and I to try impossible burgers (he's pescatarian, I'm vegawarian): we agreed it was not that great.

What does vegawarian mean?

A shibboleth

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#125

Post by PerfectElement »

ugh123 wrote: post #91

Has any thought been given to the long-term economic consequences of something like this replacing animal products in the market? The price of commodity corn shot up when production of corn-based ethanol became popular as well as other uses of corn. I'm not sure if the agricultural industry would be ready to support a large shift towards this very easily.

If something like this replaces animal products, the demand for grains would drastically fall. Is this the economic consequence you are worried about?

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#126

Post by pkaye »

mtl_usr wrote: post #113
pkaye wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish they would list the phosphorus contents. I'm on dialysis and require high protein requirements every day but must restrict phosphorus. If I knew this number I could better account for it in my diet. Unfortunately phosphorus is not required in current labeling requirements.

That's a shame. Curious, how do you normally figure out the phosphorus content ? Is there a guideline somewhere that gives you an adequate estimate ?

For many common food items, the USDA has a database of full nutrition information including phosphorus. This is a God send for me. https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

Beyond thing I have few tricks to get a estimate but mostly for those things I don't know the numbers well, I eat in moderation.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#127

Post by PerfectElement »

Danihan wrote: post #27
concinds wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check the ingredients list: >Full Ingredient List: >Water, Textured Wheat Protein, Coconut Oil, Potato Protein, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of: Leghemoglobin (soy), Yeast Extract, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Konjac Gum, Xanthan Gum, Thiamin (Vitamin B1), Zinc, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12. >Contains: >Soy, Wheat This contains soy. My comment stands.

I love how highly, highly processed foods are suddenly A-OK to many people here once it's a fake meat product. >But high-temperature processing has the unfortunate side effect of so denaturing the other proteins in soy that they are rendered largely ineffective.23 That's why animals on soy feed need lysine supplements for normal growth. >Nitrites, which are potent carcinogens, are formed during spray-drying, and a to…

I love how the anti-vaxer Mercola keeps being referenced here on HN every time someone wants to make a case against veganism. In fact, every single anti-vegan blog out there links to the same Mercola articles.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#128

Post by shanev »

L_Rahman wrote: post #9

I remember reading the original impressions of the Impossible Foods ground meat and thinking it was just media buzz. I promise you it is not. At Momofuku's Ssam Bar in the East Village of NYC, you can order an off menu item called Spicy Pork Sausage and Rice Cakes. It's not really off the menu - the item has simply been around so long and is so well known to regulars that they left it off to make room for new dishes.…

How do you know for that sure it will reduce the number of animal lives and reduce CO2? Farming the plants needed to produce this fake meat takes up land, potentially (and most likely) more land needed to produce equal amounts of meat.

Unless they are running a completely solar operation and managing their farms using a system of rotational grazing that sequesters CO2, they most certainly are emitting it.

I see this as only mildly better than CAFOs. Employing holistic management techniques is still the best, and unfortunately, under appreciated way to produce meat in an ethical, sustainable way that also generates new fertile soil and sequesters carbon/methane as a side effect.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#129

Post by ronack »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #101
paulcole wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Environmental, ethical, or dollar cost?

just the simple dollar cost

Two 1/4 lb. frozen patties are around $6. I've never been a fan of veggie burgers, but these really do taste excellent and the nutrition profile is great.

Re: Impossible Foods has raised $75M for its plant-based burgers

#130

Post by adrianmonk »

resf wrote: post #59
nostromo wrote: post #42

I'm happy to see that fat and protein are the main ingredients. http://impossiblefoods.com/images/faq/nutrition-facts.png A lot of veggie imitation meats are low on fat and protein and extremely high on processed carbs.

Wow, do nutrition labels in USA generally not show figures per 100g?

It's per serving.

Obviously, it's easier to compare if they are all relative to 100g, but arguably per-serving is more useful when making eating decisions. When I'm buying a food, I'm not trying to do science; I'm trying to figure out how much of a particular nutrient I'm personally going to get when I eat that item.

For example, if I have soup, there's no way I'll have as little as 100g of it. If I have tea, there's no way I'm going to have as much as 100g of tea leaves. The mass of a serving could be 1 or even 2 orders of magnitude different depending on the type of food.

Serving sizes are required by law to be "based on amounts of foods and beverages that people are actually eating" (see https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocument... ).

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