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dragonwriter 3 days ago

> Moreover the ingredients in meat alternatives are known quantities and they lack the specific compounds like heme iron, nitrosamines, and saturated animal fats that are mechanistically linked to cancer and heart disease in red and processed meat.

Beyond doesn't contain heme iron, but Impossible does.

glenstein 2 days ago | parent [-]

Good point. From chatgpting about this for a moment, it sounds like the heme is chemically structurally identical, but it's soy derived and (1) there isn't yet research tying it to the same health outcomes as animal heme, and (2) there may be an important difference in the environmental and chemical context and which it's delivered, as animal heme is delivered in saturated animal fats, accompanied by nitrites/nitrates (from curing) and heterocyclic amines or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (from high-heat cooking of meat).

But it could be a legit issue in terms of sharing rather than improving on a health outcomes associated with meat.