The food start-up’s success is undeniable — and a noticeable affront to Big Meat — but Impossible Foods’ hasty rise has also made the $400 million Silicon Valley darling an unexpected set of enemies: consumer groups and environmentalists who exposed FDA letters questioning the safety of the burger’s “magic ingredient,” then started demanding more proof that Impossible’s alt-meat is the harmless, vegan product it claims.
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Given their novel situation, Impossible asked the FDA to review the burger’s safety, despite being under no obligation to do so. That was in 2015, and it went badly: The agency responded with a letter saying that Impossible’s data “do not establish the safety of SLH for consumption, nor do they point to a general recognition of safety.” Impossible Foods took a mulligan, sending 1,000-plus pages of new test data that the company argued better demonstrate SLH’s safety. The FDA gave itself until the end of April to reply, but just extended that deadline by another 90 days.
That alarmed Friends of the Earth, ETC Group, and other staunch anti-GMOers.
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Impossible … blames anti-GMO crusaders and a sensationalist press for these attacks. The company says that it openly discusses genetic modification with anyone who’ll listen, disclosed the animal testing voluntarily, sought the FDA’s approval when it wasn’t required, and that a panel of independent safety experts has given the green light to the veggie burgers — twice.
Read full, original post: The ‘Bleeding’ Veggie Burger Is Under Fire
