The Huge Change Impossible Foods Just Made To Its Ground Beef Substitute

Shop Smart ranked Impossible Burger Ground Meat as its number one plant-based burger alternative in 2022. Vegans, vegetarians, and even carnivores can enjoy the Impossible brand as a meat replacement option. In fact, Shop Smart said, the manual labor required to form the burger patties is one of the only drawbacks to selecting this brand.

CNET reported that the health benefits of Impossible Beef are comparable to regular beef, but they contain more highly processed ingredients. Impossible Burger ground beef is made mainly from soy protein. According to Impossible Foods, the product also includes an ingredient called Heme, which gives the meat alternative a convincing, meaty texture. The site also swears by the taste and endless recipe possibilities of the Impossible brand in general.

Impossible Foods recently changed its Impossible Burger Ground Meat recipe in the name of health-consciousness, Food Dive reports. This change has driven the comparison to actual meat even closer and made the debate over which option is healthiest more contentious.

Vegetarians and carnivores alike can likely find something to like about the Impossible Foods plant-based meat alternatives. If they weren't convinced before, a change in the Impossible Ground Meat formula might do the trick.

Now, according to Food Dive, Impossible burgers contain less fat and more protein than a traditional all-meat burger. This change brings the saturated fat levels in Impossible Beef from 8 grams per serving down to 6 grams per serving — 33% less than a beef burger — as well as elevating the protein levels from 31% to 38%, Food Navigator reported. Impossible foods also changed the name of the product to Impossible Beef from Impossible Burger Ground Meat. That's because referring to the substitute as beef more accurately portrays its wide range of usage outside the classic way to prepare an Impossible Burger. 

Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness told Food Navigator that social media hasn't reacted much to these changes, and time will tell how sales will fare.