(WebMD) — Imagine you’re about to bite into a decadent-looking burger. You inhale the aroma of grilled meat, note the enticing char, anticipate that first juicy mouthful. Take a bite and savor the umami richness. The heat and the smoky flavor are there. It’s perfectly dense and sublime.
Now imagine learning you’ve just eaten a veggie burger.
That’s the idea behind “meat analogue” products like the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat. They claim to make vegan burgers that would satisfy even a sworn carnivore. They also aim to save the planet by reducing the environmental impact of cattle farming. And, they’re becoming big business.
Beyond Meat, which sells plant-based burgers, sausages, and ground “meat” in supermarkets, raised more than $240 million in its early May initial public offering of stock. Impossible Foods, whose burgers are available only in restaurants for now, has teamed up with fast-food chain Burger King. (…)