The California-based company said Chef David Chang will debut Impossible Pork at his famed Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York City on Thursday, while the meatless product will be available in restaurants in Hong Kong starting on Oct. 4 and in Singapore later this fall.
Participating restaurants include U.S. chain Ruby Tuesday, Tim Ho Wan, and Hong Kong’s Beef & Liberty.
Other restaurants across Hong Kong and the United States can also order the new plant-based pork for their menus from major foodservice distributors.
Impossible Foods has high hopes for the new product, which it says is “designed to be more delicious and far more sustainable while satisfying every culture and cuisine.”
A recent blind taste test of more than 200 consumers in Hong Kong conducted by Impossible Foods found that the meatless pork product was preferred to ground pork from pigs by 54 percent of consumers, who rated it on everything from likability to flavor and texture.
Primarily made from soy, the meatless pork is certified gluten-free and contains no nitrates, no animal hormones, and no antibiotics. It also has fewer calories than U.S. Department of Agriculture ground pork, and 59 percent less fat, and zero milligrams of cholesterol.
The new product marks the company’s third commercial launch after ground beef and chicken nuggets, launched earlier this month.
“Earlier this month, we beat the animal with the launch of Impossible Chicken Nuggets,” Woodside said in a statement. “With Impossible Pork, we’re beating the animal again while satisfying even more types of cuisine—another important step towards making the global food system much more sustainable.”
The muscle myopathy causes stripes to appear on the chickens when they are unable to keep up with the unnaturally fast muscle growth, which can also create problems with blood and oxygen flow.
As a result, the chickens replace muscle tissue with fibrous tissue and fat, which subsequently reduces the nutritional value of the meat by increasing the fat content by 224 percent and giving lower protein levels by 9 percent.
The nonprofit organization urged food companies to shift to slower-growth chicken breeds to improve consumer choice, human health, and animal welfare.