Impossible Foods reproduces the texture, smell and taste of beef with 100% vegetable-based artificial meat. It has led investors from Bill Gates and many other investors, and has also opened stores in the US and Hong Kong.
However, PETA, an animal group against Impossible Food, has killed 188 rats for safety tests and accused Impossible Food itself of carcinogenic substances.
Of course, concerns about impassable food were also present. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also asked for safety data. Last August, the FDA asked for data on food safety. The problem was that it succeeded in making the taste, shape, and juice of meat, but in this process we used a component called leghemoglobin, which is contained in the bean root in its natural state. The FDA reported that the artificial leg hemoglobin produced by the recombinant yeast in the impassable food could cause allergies, thus conveying concerns about safety.
It has not received FDA approval for leg hemoglobin and has not reported the safety verification process or investigation to the FDA. Leg hemoglobin, a key ingredient in the production of artificial meat, is a plant-derived ingredient, but it is a key ingredient in producing true meat-like texture. The FDA said it had a strong demand for safety certification for humans as there was no precedent for leg hemoglobin at the time.
Imassable food said it was important to ensure transparency in food, saying that the company fully complies with FDA food regulations and is safe. In addition, it said it would submit additional data to the FDA to verify that the ingredients are safe through experiments using experimental mice.
Impossible Food conducted an animal experiment with 188 experimental rats for safety testing. In the experiment, mice were given more leg hemoglobin than normal human intake and their health was checked.
PETA, however, objected to the experiment. Accusing scientists of ignoring the advice of scientists that they do not need to experiment with animals. Of course, Impossible Food said it was a difficult dilemma, but that it decided to experiment with experimental mice to save billions of cows. In August, PETA activists are attacking Impossible Food, adding that protests are hurting the business by negatively campaigning through social media and sending mass e-mail.
Of course, it is not just an animal test. PETA says that the leg hemoglobin that enters the impassable food contains more iron than the hemoglobin that enters the meat, and it can increase the risk of carcinogenesis by excessive iron ingestion. Studies have shown that excess iron intake is associated with cancer. However, it is almost impossible to fall into excessive iron intake as much as eating a burger using impassable food. The National Institutes of Health also says that people with normal bowel function are unlikely to fall into excessive iron intake for food.
Apart from the safety workshop surrounding impassable food, artificial meat will continue to grow in the future. Impossible food is not simply a product for the vegetarian. It is to pay attention to artificial meat in that there is environmental problem such as grassland, feed, water shortage situation on earth on the earth by raising cattle and pig. Impossible Food is building a large artificial meat production plant in Auckland and will be able to mass produce 450 tons of artificial meat per month. Impossible Food is expected to lower the unit price of Impossible Food, which is four times more than conventional beef burgers. In mass production, production is expected to reach 250 times that of now, so we expect to be able to deliver meat to more than 1,000 stores.
In addition to Impossible Food, a number of food start-ups, such as Memphis Meat, which makes artificial chicken, and Mozilla Meat, a Dutch company invested by Sergey Brin, one of Google co-founders, are speeding up artificial meat production. It is likely that artificial meat will soon affect the food service industry.