Temecula,
California,
United States
3 places, eating the Impossible Burger each time. My husband got very ill from eating The Impossible Burger. We didn't realize what had happened the first two times, the third it was obvious what had happened before. We always split our meals, so each time this occurred he only had 1/2 of one Impossible Burger. The first time, we had one at Stone Brewery in Escondido while camping on our motorhome nearby. He ended up with an upset stomach and a little cramping that night and we didn't associate it with our dinner. A couple of weeks later, we split a burger at Ballast Point in Temecula (no longer in business) we probably ate dinner around 5:00ish. He woke up at 2:00 AM throwing up, severe stomach cramps, and diarrhea. Again, did not associate it with the Impossible Burger, just figured he was ill, it was possibly from something else? We had no clue. A couple of weeks later, we split a burger at The Cheesecake Factory in Temecula. Within 45 minutes of being home he was violently ill, projectile vomiting, cramps, diarrhea. He says it was the sickest he has ever been in regards to stomach problems. We realized then the connection with The Impossible Burger. I did some research online and discovered that his issue was not that unusual, that many people had the same thing occur. At that point I reached out to Impossible Foods company on 2/19/2019. They replied promptly that they would have their Head of Nutrition and Health, contact him to review what had happened. This phone conversation with my husband took place on 2/21/19. She had extensive questions about prior food allergy history. He had never had a reaction like that before to any food product. He did mention that he was allergic to dairy products, and we felt that her response didn't apply to my husband, mentioned something about he may have other allergies. But we really didnt' feel like the answer related at all to what had occurred to my husband. We cannot remember exactly what the response was from Impossible Burgers, but we do feel that basically this product is poison to him, and way too risky to be left on the market because he got progressively more ill each time he ate only half of one burger. From what I understand in reading other information on the internet, the product may be the GMO Heme used in the burger. We were frankly very surprised that the brand was picked up by some fast food companies and always wonder how many people are becoming ill. Last time we dropped off dinner to a friend's family. I made them burgers using Beyond Burger Classic Cookout. They loved them and asked me what brand I used. I told her, and then explained that we have to not use The Impossible Burger because my husband has such a severe reaction. Her reply was that her daughter also has the same problem. At that point I did a quick google to show her it was not uncommon, and found your website for the first time. I wanted to make sure we added our information as it really is important that other people are aware. There should be some sort of possible allergen warning on the product as their is for people with nut and other allergies because definitely it is making people ill. I am including the checkbox below "Alert business of product owner" even though I have reported to them previously because my friends case had not been reported and I do think the company needs to be aware of each and every case to hopefully resolve the issue. It's really a shame because I felt their product was delicious, but I will never eat it because of course, will not have it in the house because my husband could possibly eat it, and second, in general I don't want to eat something that can be so toxic to another person. Side note for risk potential: We were on vacation sometime in the summer of 2019 and we were at a restaurant at a resort in Lake Havasu at The Nautical Inn. Their menu said The Beyond Burger, so we ordered it. It came and my husband was just about to take a bite and I told him to stop. It did not look like a Beyond Burger to me. I asked the waitress what brand it was, and clearly it annoyed her and she told me to ask The Bartender. I asked him and he called up to the restaurant, and sure enough it was The Impossible Burger. I tried to explain the importance of correcting that on the menu even if only hand writing it in and crossing out Beyond Burger. I don't feel like the point was made of how ill it made my husband. I did report it to the resort when I got home because it would have ruined the vacation and my husband is very concerned that each reaction was so much more severe, no idea what could happen if he accidentally were to eat the product again. | Symptoms: Nausea, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Cramps
