However, there's one major difference between the two: Beyond Meat uses pea proteins as the main ingredient in its faux meat whereas Impossible Foods uses soy and potato protein — though potato protein makes up less than 2 percent of the product (via CNet ). Beyond Meat isolates protein from a variety of different peas and legumes including the garden-variety English pea, mung bean, fava bean, and to a lesser extent, brown rice, in order to form their burgers and other meat substitute products (via Beyond Meat ). They also use beet juice to mimic the hemoglobin you would experience in a real burger. To recreate the "bloodiness" of a burger, instead of beet juice, Impossible Burger uses soy leghemoglobin, a compound found in the roots of the soy plant which is chemically similar to hemoglobin found in animals. It was something of a controversial choice that caused a bit of an uproar (via The Counter ) when it came to whether it was a safe ingredient to use.