[5] In July 2016, the company launched its first meat analogue product, the Impossible Burger, which is made from material derived from plants.

[7] The plant-based burger has more protein, less total fat, no cholesterol, and less food energy than a similar-sized hamburger patty made with beef.

[17][18] To produce heme protein from non-animal sources, Impossible Foods selected the leghemoglobin molecule found naturally in the roots of soy plants.

[22] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a "no questions" letter in July 2018, accepting the unanimous conclusion of a panel of food-safety experts that the protein that carries heme is safe to eat.

[24] An FDA rule change that accepted the colorant and allows the sale of Impossible Burgers in grocery stores took effect on September 4, 2019.

[30] Impossible Foods also worked on plant-based products that emulated chicken, pork, fish, and dairy,[31] but decided to concentrate on creating a substitute for the ground beef in burger patties.

[32] The restaurant Momofuku Nishi in New York, owned by David Chang, began serving the Impossible Burger in July 2016.

[33] In October 2016, the Impossible Burger became a standing menu item in selected additional restaurants in California,[34] such as Jardinière and Cockscomb in San Francisco, and Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles.

[35] The Michelin-starred restaurant Public, operated by Brad Farmerie, began serving the Impossible Burger in January 2017.

[36] In March 2017, Impossible Foods announced it would build its first large-scale plant in Oakland, California, to produce 1 million pounds of plant-based burger meat per month.

[42] In April 2019, Burger King began test marketing an Impossible Whopper, using the patty at locations around St.

[47] In April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the FDA started allowing restaurants to sell Impossible beef substitute to consumers, with an additional printed-out sheet satisfying label requirements.