Impossible Foods just won an FDA nod to sell its fake meat in stores, and Beyond Meat shares are tanking

Umami Burger

Impossible Foods has been given the go-ahead by the US Food and Drug Administration to sell its burgers in American groceries.
The FDA said that soy leghemoglobin, a protein-based color additive Impossible Food uses to make its burgers look and "bleed" like real meat, was safe.
This means Impossible is now a direct competitor to Beyond Meat, and in premarket trading Beyond was down 6%, set to wipe over $700 million off its market capitalization.
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Beyond Meat is set to plunge on Thursday after Impossible Foods’ burgers were given the green light to be sold in US supermarkets.

The FDA said in a statement that a key ingredient, soy leghemoglobin, in Impossible Foods’ burgers that make them "bleed" was safe for consumption.

That means that Impossible will be able to sell direct to consumers and act as a direct competitor to Beyond Meat.

Impossible Foods said in a press release that now it has been given the go-ahead, it will launch its flagship grocery product in stores next month.

"We’ve always gone above and beyond to comply with every food-safety regulation and to provide maximum transparency about our ingredients so that our customers can have 100% confidence in our product," said Impossible Foods Chief Legal Officer Dana Wagner in the release.

Reuters

Impossible Foods made waves earlier this year after launching their Impossible burger in Burger King, with consumers saying it tasted very similar to the original. Currently, Impossible Foods is sold in 10,000 restaurants in the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau.

Impossible Foods also said in the release: "Soy leghemoglobin is a protein that carries ‘heme,’ an iron-containing molecule essential for life that occurs naturally in every animal and plant. Impossible Foods’ scientists discovered that heme is the ‘magic ingredient’ that makes meat taste like meat, and enables the Impossible Burger to satisfy meat lovers’ cravings."

Markets Insider reported Tuesday that Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat’s CEO said that they welcome competition from Impossible Foods.

"It’s a $1.4 trillion industry, getting more players in that are willing to market and tell the story is really important," he said on an earnings call. "We like competition. We particularly like it when we’re winning. But I think, overall, competition keeps everybody sharp."

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