Impossible Foods’ heme protein is safe, says EFSA GMO panel

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) GMO panel has issued a positive opinion on the safety of Impossible Foods’ heme protein ingredient (soy leghemoglobin), bringing the firm’s flagship products closer to commercialization in the EU.

While Impossible Foods could launch products in the EU (as it did in the UK in 2022) without the heme protein, the blood-red substance (which Impossible Foods makes from a genetically engineered yeast strain) is a key ingredient in its flagship plant-based beef products, and has been going through a lengthy approval process as a food additive.

This requires a green light both from EFSA’s Panel on Food Additive and Flavourings (which it secured earlier this year) and its Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (which concluded the ingredient did not present a safety concern at intended use levels in an opinion published today).

There will now be a 30-day comment period, during which questions of a scientific nature will be addressed by EFSA and the European Commission.

The Commission will then draft a decision to be brought to the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed.

‘This is an important step toward bringing Impossible products to Europe’

An Impossible Foods spokesperson said the opinion was a key milestone on the way to making its flagship products available in the EU, pending final approval by the European Commission and EU Member States.

“This is an important step toward bringing Impossible products to Europe. The agency’s comprehensive, scientific assessment of the safety of Soy Leghemoglobin (heme) across two applications reinforces the overall quality and safety of our food, echoing similar approvals from regulators in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.”

California-based Impossible Foods made its European debut in the UK 2022 with the launch of plant-based chicken nuggets and sausage patties, formulated without soy leghemoglobin. The ingredient—which imparts a meaty flavor and color to Impossible Foods’ beef and pork—is not used in its alt chicken, but is part of the US recipe for sausage patties, which were reformulated for the UK market while the company waited to hear from regulators.

Impossible Foods received a GRAS ‘no questions’ letter from the FDA in 2018 for its soy leghemoglobin and approval to use the ingredient as a color additive approval in 2019.