What Is Heme? The Lowdown on Impossible Foods’ Not-So-Secret Ingredient 

Heme is the key ingredient that makes Impossible Foods' plant-based products taste so much like real meat. Found in every living thing, heme is a group of molecules containing iron and is essential for processes like oxygen transportation. In order to create plant-based meat that resembles the real thing, Impossible Foods extracts heme from soybeans using a genetically-engineered yeast, making their products vegan but not GMO-free.

Despite their innovative use of heme, Impossible Foods has faced controversy surrounding the safety and testing of their products. The brand has been criticized by organizations like the Non-GMO Project and Friends of the Earth, with legal challenges to the FDA's approval of heme. Other plant-based brands, like Back of the Yards Algae Sciences, are also exploring heme extraction from sources like spirulina, signaling potential competition for Impossible Foods in the plant-based meat market.