b'that some of these crops are incredibly difficult to growthats why theres a lot of widescale corn, wheat and sorghum production. Theyre so robust.These protein rich seeds are excellent to usein JUST Egg, weve found that when we isolate the mung bean protein in a raw state, it behaves just like an egg protein when you scramble it in a pan, Lazimy says. Unlike soy, mung bean has very little evidence of deforestation and it has low water use.But the real question we want to know Are these plant-based proteins considered to be healthier than their meat alter-egos?We do believe plant-based products are healthier, Lazimy says. Theres a lot of scientific background that shows people have a difficult time digesting red meats. Our egg protein has zero cho-lesterol, unlike regular egg products. With a plant-based diet, everything can still be healthy and you still get all the nutrition you need, but of course, a balanced diet is most important.The Impossible Burger gets its impossible taste from heme, a molecule full of iron and that makes meat taste like meat. Meanwhile, JUST Egg gets its unique texture from mung beans, which scramble like real eggs.The life we grew up with doesnt exist anymoreinstead, we need to change theWHAT IS HEME?system and how its run.There are plenty of things that make its way into the Impossible Burger, but the biggest question onNick Halla everyones mind: how does it taste exactly like a beef burger?The answer: heme. Heme is the secret ingredient to life on Earthits a molecule full of iron, and its actually the molecule that grabs oxygen from your lungs and carries it through your bloodstream. But more Impossible Foods hasnt stopped trying toimportantly, heme makes meat taste like meat. Its what our body yearns for and craves when you make the Impossible Burger healthierin Januarytake a bite out of a juicy burger. 2019, they released a new recipe for the burger that cut the sodium 30% from the original recipe,The craving for meat is really a craving for heme and the iron and protein it represents in the diet, as well as reducing the saturated fat by 40%.says Pat Brown, founder and CEO at Impossible Foods.As we keep thinking of ways to improve the Impossible Burger, nutrition is on the top of ourHowever, heme doesnt always appear in plants. So how does Impossible Foods create heme inside their mind, Halla says. Were constantly looking toplant-based burger? They make plant-based heme by fermentation of genetically engineered yeast.make it healthier, and thats what were hoping theThey started by looking at a lot of different forms of protein, before they identified soy leghemoglobin, Impossible Burger version two accomplishes. which is a protein that contains heme. It can be found in its natural form, in the root modules of natural Both companies truly believe that to feed the worlds population by 2050, farmers, seed compa- plants, or it can be created by fermentation, which is much easier to create and maintain in a lab.nies and food companies need to work togetherYeasts are used for making other proteins in certain kinds of beers and wines, so its something that to change our food system. For them, plant-basedpeople are used to, says Smita Shankar, principal scientist at Impossible Foods. The yeast that we use proteins mean the future of agricultures value chain. Change can be scary, Halla says. But theremakes its own heme. We take the DNA from soy leghemoglobin, and we insert that DNA into our yeast. are huge opportunities in the space of plant-basedThat DNA from the soy leghemoglobin then helps the yeast make its own heme, which gives the proteins. If we can add more value back into theImpossible Burger its impossible flavor.value chain, then we can have a much more diverse and sustainable world.SW8/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2019'