(NaturalHealth365)  The Impossible Burger, a “plant-based burger” marketed by Impossible Foods, now appears on diners’ plates in many restaurants.  Unfortunately, most people don’t know how deceptive this genetically engineered food really at impersonating meat.

The company that produces this ‘franken-burger’  wants the public to believe that this product is “delicious food that’s nutritious.”  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The appearance of these GMO burgers signals a bigger wave of genetically engineered foods created by gene editing – a technique that natural health experts say is insufficiently tested.  Many consumers – blissfully unaware of the “burger’s” GMO origins – are already chowing down on the Impossible Burger.

This is despite a recent survey showing that over two-thirds of consumers say they would not knowingly eat GMO foods.

Food ALERT: GMO-based Impossible Burger breaks down into dozens of untested proteins

According to Impossible Foods’ own website, their burger is actually based on yeast that has been genetically engineered to resemble leghemoglobin – a substance found in the roots of soybean plants.

Soy leghemoglobin, or SLH, breaks down into the bright-red “heme” protein – which causes the burger to resemble meat and (creepily) even allows it to “bleed.” When ingested, SLH breaks down into 46 other proteins of undetermined safety – proteins that are not normally found in the human body and have undergone no testing whatsoever.

And here’s the kicker: although Impossible Foods didn’t need the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell its GMO burger, the company requested that the agency confirm it as GRAS (generally recognized as safe).

The FDA – to its credit – expressed concern that humans have never consumed SLH (and may be an allergen, to boot).  According to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the FDA stated that the current arguments in favor of the burger were “not enough to establish the safety of SLH for consumption.”

But, the FDA stopped short of deeming the burger’ unsafe.’

Yet, despite the actions of the FDA, the Impossible Foods website maintains that the FDA does, in fact, validate SLH as safe.  Of course, natural health experts are far from convinced of its safety.

Genetically altered foods are heralded with the ability to “stop hunger” – but is the claim realistic?

The Impossible Burger has been billed as lacking the environmental and ethical downsides of meat production.

Genetically engineered foods such as the Impossible Burger have been touted as having the ability to help sustain the 9 billion-strong human population predicted on earth by 2050.  On the surface, it sounds like a noble mission.

However, natural health experts and officials at the UN and the WHO note that the world’s current hunger problem is largely due to improper distribution, inequality, poverty, and food waste.

Rather than presenting a solution for world hunger, the Impossible Burger only represents the latest “twist” in high-tech GMO foods.

And the repercussions of existing GMO foods are unfolding daily.

GMO crops (such as Roundup Ready corn) are engineered to survive being doused with synthetic chemical pesticides, such as glyphosate and dicamba.  This means they are responsible for a tremendous increase in the use of these toxic substances, which have been linked in studies to cancer, dementia, and immune problems.

U.S. Right To Know, a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing truth and transparency in the U.S. food system, points out that GMO pesticide-resistant crops have been associated with an array of disastrous effects.

These include birth defects in Hawaii, cancer clusters in Argentina, contaminated waterways in Iowa, damaged farmland across the Midwest – plus much more.

Remember “Golden Rice?” (or maybe you don’t).  This vitamin A-enhanced GMO rice was touted almost two decades ago as “the rice that could save a million kids a year,” yet it failed to materialize on the market.

This is due to the fact that breeders have yet to develop varieties that grow as well as existing natural rice strains.

When one trait – in this case, the ability to produce beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A – is edited in a genome, other capabilities (such as speed of growth) may be altered, and not for the better.

Maybe fooling Mother Nature is a bit harder than GMO scientists think.

CRISPR technology signals a new horizon of synthetic biology

“Old-school” genetic engineering, which is objectionable enough, involves the transfer of genes from one plant or animal species to another.

However, CRISPR technology operates from a different angle.

Also known as synthetic biology, gene editing, and gene silencing, CRISPR (an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats) involves genes that are turned off or “silenced.”

Outright gene deletion and the creation of brand-new DNA sequences are also possible with CRISPR.

And, remember: the resultant products can be patented – a very profitable distinction for the biotech industry!

Agrichemical giants Monsanto (now Bayer), DuPont, and Dow Chemical have all achieved licensing deals that allow them to use gene-editing technology.

According to U.S. Right to Know, companies are changing or creating DNA to artificially synthesize compounds, with yeasts and algae being genetically “tweaked” to produce flavors and fragrances such as vanillin, citrus, and patchouli.

Of course, this development threatens the very survival of farmers in Mexico, Africa, and Paraguay, who have cultivated natural, organic extracts for centuries.

CRISPR technology is altering the fruits and vegetables appearing in produce aisles.

One example is the non-browning Arctic Apple, which uses CRISPR technology to silence the gene that causes apples to brown when sliced.  The Arctic Apple has already been test-marketed and is on grocery shelves nationwide.

Other gene-edited products now available in grocery stores include CRISPR canola oil and non-browning CRISPR mushrooms.

Is ignorance really bliss?

According to recent updates from Impossible Foods, the company’s products, including the popular Impossible Burger, are widely available in both restaurants and grocery stores across the U.S. Impossible Foods has significantly expanded its distribution since its initial launch, with products now offered in thousands of grocery stores, including major chains like Walmart, Target, and Safeway.  Additionally, Impossible Burgers are served in numerous restaurant chains, making them accessible to a broader range of consumers.

Meanwhile, consumers looking for a humane, nutritious, and safe meat alternative are consuming the Impossible Burger with no concept of what it contains – or of the possible health effects down the road.

Infuriatingly, vendors and restaurateurs have reportedly been heard to tell customers that the Impossible Burger is “non-GMO.”

To make matter worse, we already have a “Franken-Fish.” AquaAdvantage salmon, engineered with the genes of an eel to promote supernaturally fast growth, is currently on the market.

One sure way you can keep these imposters from ending up on your dinner plate is to buy organic, “real” whole foods.  Just say “no” to the Impossible Burger – and the invasion of nightmarish Franken-Foods.

Sources for this article include:

NIH.gov
USRightToKnow.org
ImpossibleFoods.com