What is heme and why is everyone talking about it?

Here at Jellybean Creative, we ensure we stay truly informed by devouring insight from a wide range of credible sources. In this way our clients know we’re always helping them put their best ā€˜food’ forward.

Whilst looking into The Food People’s 2019 UK Big Flavour Markers recently, I noticed a word I hadn’t seen before – heme – and my interest was immediately piqued.

Heme or haem is a coordination complex “consisting of an iron ion coordinated to a porphyrin acting as a tetradentate ligand, and to one or two axial ligands.”

OK, let’s start from the beginning.

  • It’s pronounced /hiːm/ (think team with a ā€˜h’)
  • It is an iron-containing compound which forms the non-protein part of haemoglobin and some other biological molecules
  • It’s in just about every living thing on Earth
  • It helps to move oxygen throughout the body, carries iron and colours our blood red
  • For most of us, the majority of the heme we consume comes from animals, but soy roots also contain heme

And why is it so interesting?

  • It gives a true meat-like flavour to dishes and is the ā€˜magic’ ingredient in the famous bleeding Impossible™ Burger
  • It could go some way to help save the planet by addressing growing issues attributed to livestock production

The Impossible™ Burger is receiving rave reviews: ā€œThis product is delicious. Every meat eater should try this.ā€ I particularly liked this one: ā€œOn behalf of all the chickens ā€œgood jobā€

This video is a must watch.

It’s a very interesting time in menu development, with the explosion of veganism, foodservice operators are having to work hard to ensure their plant-based dishes stand out within the market and ultimately satisfy people’s appetites.

Has anyone tried an Impossible™ Burger and if so, what did you think? We must know! @JellybeanAgency