
Impossible Foods' next product is sausage - ingve
https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/19/impossible-foods-sausage/
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matt-attack
I find it interesting in this day and age, where we know so much about the
hazards of _processed_ foods, that some many seemingly health-conscious folks
are gravitating to the Impossible meat 2.0. The ingredient list of the 2.0 is:

> Water, soy protein concentrate, coconut oil, sunflower oil, natural flavors,
> 2% or less of: potato protein, methylcellulose, yeast extract, cultured
> dextrose, food starch modified, soy leghemoglobin, salt, soy protein
> isolate, mixed tocopherols (vitamin E), zinc gluconate, thiamine
> hydrochloride (vitamin B1), sodium ascorbate (vitamin C), niacin, pyridoxine
> hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin B12.

This seems as _processed_ as I can possibly imagine. I understand the
environmental and health effects of beef, but I truly wonder which is
healthier for you. Beef is pretty much as _natural_ as it can come, while the
2.0 meat comes from a lab.

That said, I've absolutely loved the Impossible burger at Mendocino Farms. I'd
recommend it to anyone. But I none-the-less wonder about the health effects.

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fhsga77
I think from the ingredient list it's pretty clear that it's not healthy:

    
    
      methylcellulose
    

an indigestible emulsifier and stool softener

    
    
      cultured dextrose
    

fermented sugar used as preservative

    
    
      soy leghemoglobin
    

Actually not from soy, but biofactured by genetically engineered yeast. I
don't know all the reasons for its inclusion, but leghemoglobin can be used as
red food coloring.

I don't consider burgers particularly healthy, but I wouldn't consider the
Impossible Burger as a healthy alternative.

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Dylan16807
methylcellulose "an indigestible emulsifier and stool softener"

You have to be joking. Normal cellulose makes up a huge amount of most healthy
and completely unprocessed vegetables, is considered great for you, and is
also an indigestible emulsifier and stool softener.

You can't just name some use that sounds icky and declare that something is
bad for you.

It's _possible_ that methylating it causes a problem, but these specific
reasons are nonsense.

"fermented sugar used as preservative" So is alcohol, and it looks like this
kind of fermentation typically uses normal cheese bacteria. Shouldn't be an
issue for most people.

"Actually not from soy, but biofactured by genetically engineered yeast." So
what?

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steven2012
I tried Impossible Meat last week and I was shocked at how tasty it was. There
was a Better Meats option for hamburgers but I don't want to waste $8 in case
it doesn't taste good. They would do so much better if they had a stand at
Whole Foods, Costco, etc giving out free samples so that I could taste it
without wasting food or money to see if I like it.

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wincy
I just tried it at White Castle for $1.99. I liked it! It was better than the
$0.99 White Castle burger. This is coming from an unrepentant carnivore, but
I’d have thought it was meat if I didn’t know better.

So if you’d like to “sample” the Impossible Burger, White Castle might be the
way to go, provided you have one locally. If not, Burger King might be your
next best bet.

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canada_dry
Consider that the impossible burger is made from soy, and soy is the 2nd
largest GMO crop. ([https://www.huffpost.com/entry/genetically-modified-
food_b_2...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/genetically-modified-
food_b_2039455)) Genetically modified soy is one of the top crops that use
Monsanto's infamous Round-Up
([https://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/04/superweeds-arent-
on...](https://www.motherjones.com/food/2014/04/superweeds-arent-only-trouble-
gmo-soy/))... so... while I agree reducing the number of cows we slaughter is
a very good thing, increasing the need for more Round-Up ready crops is NOT
(IMHO).

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X6S1x6Okd1st
Why do you feel that GMO is bad?

~~~
petre
It's not so much the GMOs but rather the chemicals they're treated with.

[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-glyphosate-
lawsuit-...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-glyphosate-lawsuit-
appeals-anal/bayer-bets-on-silver-bullet-defense-in-roundup-litigation-
experts-see-hurdles-idUSKCN1SM2R3)

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throwaway713
As someone who currently eats meat but constantly wonders whether it is
ethical (particularly for an animal like a pig, which is more intelligent than
most house pets), this sort of food based research is fantastic.

I think once we have something that tastes as good as traditional meat, most
of the population would have no hesitation switching over to substitutes
(something like Iberian ham might be a bit difficult to duplicate though...)

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YeGoblynQueenne
>> As someone who currently eats meat but constantly wonders whether it is
ethical (particularly for an animal like a pig, which is more intelligent than
most house pets), this sort of food based research is fantastic.

Why is it unethical to eat an intelligent animal? Are man-eating sharks
unethical for eating humans, who are more intelligent than pigs?

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iambateman
It seems like sausage would be relatively much easier than a burger,
considering there is much higher variation in the way it’s prepared. There are
lots of kinds of good sausage, not as many kinds of good hamburger

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dboreham
Probably don't want to know how it's made..

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amelius
I hope it is not soy-based for a change.

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cfqycwz
Why?

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amelius
Because it is generally a good idea to have a diverse diet.

And also because there have been concerns about phytoestrogens in soy. Whether
true or not, the former point still stands.

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paxys
Covering some portion of meat proteins to plant-based ones is going to result
in a more diverse diet for most of the population.

~~~
YeGoblynQueenne
This assumes that most of the population does not already get most of their
protein from plant food. This really doesn't seem the case, considering what
are thought of as "staple" foods in most of the world: wheat, maize, rice,
cassava, potato, sweet potato, etc. A diet where most of the protein comes
from meat is more typical of developed nations, and then again, only some of
them (hint: the US).

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LeicaLatte
Do it!

