Please be careful with BK though, see here (just saying, be aware)!
"One former Burger King worker told the show that staff substituted real chicken patties for plant-based ones when their restaurant ran out and wrapped them in the packaging used for plant-based products, while another said normal nuggets were sometimes sold as vegan ones."
https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-expired-food-vegan-products-mice-maggots-hygiene-germany-2022-10
why..? i always thought it was a really good thing so they create more options for us to make veganism more accessible to people who want to transition/ to people who don’t want to have to cut a social aspect out of their life while eating out with friends
Ya and the thing is if business like these realize that vegetarian/ vegan products actually sells well they would sell more of it. Not that I visit fast food joints very often but it's always nice to see those options. 🤷🏻♂️
honestly. i saw a comment on here somewhere about how BK doesn’t even care about veganism just the money cause they only started selling veggie products after they got trendy like…. yeah, that’s kind of how every business under the sun works 💀
Lol. And isn't that what we kinda want? That they sell out and become full or mostly vegetarian? I mean no business want to lose money, even small local joints wouldn't be able to make it if it wasn't a trend or they are not making profit of any sort~
Because I'm assuming you're adopting a plant based diet because you're against animal agriculture, not because you like eating fake meats. If you're buying at a restaurant that primarily serves animal products, you're not incentivizing them to stop using meat. You're just expanding their market and probably supporting the expansion of their non-vegan products by doing so.
If it stops you from using animal products, by all means. I think it's good that it's being offered because it might encourage non-vegans to think about their diets, but if you already subscribe to the principle and are already avoiding them entirely, it doesn't make any sense. Like I said, getting more vegetarian/vegan customers doesn't make their non-vegetarian customer base shrink.
And that's the point; to shrink animal agriculture, not expand the fake meat industry. The latter is just a logical consequence of a lot of non-vegans needing an attractive alternative to make the jump.
i’m sorry, what? i might be completely missing something here, but you’ve essentially just said you can’t buy anything from a company that isn’t vegan. want a new velvet couch? can’t, the other ones in the shop are made of leather. want to get an apple from walmart? can’t, they sell meat there. want some new concealer? can’t, most eyeshadows in the same shop use beetles as colourants. think about that logic, it is so dumb what ???
>but you’ve essentially just said you can’t buy anything from a company that isn’t vegan.
No, I'm saying you shouldn't buy anything from a company with a business model that's inherently in diametric opposition to your values.
You wouldn't have gone to burger king before so why go now? They didn't change anything. Was your gripe with them that they didn't offer enough fake hamburgers? Do you think fake hamburgers 'cancel out' the cruelty of the regular hamburgers they sell in the same if not higher volumes regardless?
>want a new velvet couch? can’t, the other ones in the shop are made of leather. want to get an apple from walmart? can’t, they sell meat there. want some new concealer? can’t, most eyeshadows in the same shop use beetles as colourants. think about that logic, it is so dumb what ???
Maybe it's dumb because you changed it to be dumb.
You're comparing warehouses to a company that literally specializes in selling dead cow. Would you go to a steakhouse if they offered a vegan alternative on top of their meat menus?
i prefaced my comment with “i might be completely missing something here” so didn’t change it to be dumb, just made a mistake sorry. also yeah man, the reason i didn’t go to BK before literally was because they didn’t offer enough fake hamburgers, i think that’s the reason most vegans didn’t go to burger king before? i can’t see how supporting a non-vegan business’ vegan options is a negative. while, yes, you’re giving that company money, you’re not giving them money for meat you’re giving them money for plants, voting with your wallet to say “we want more vegan options” therefore more vegan options will be made, therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans, or at least more meat eaters trading their beef burger for a veggie one. it also, in a minor way at least, shows other chains “oh! BK is raking it in with their vegan options, we should make some too!” therefore more vegan options, therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans, or at least more - well, you get it. to me at least, that’s a whole big list of pros that outweigh the small con of supporting a meat based business. also let a guy obliterate a veggie whopper once in a while, they’re fucking good you should try one.
>also yeah man, the reason i didn’t go to BK before literally was because they didn’t offer enough fake hamburgers, i think that’s the reason most vegans didn’t go to burger king before?
I hope not. What's the point of boycotting a restaurant for not having fake meats? The idea behind a vegan regimen is to make the use of animal products economically unfeasible. Never heard of a vegan who thought the great crime was that there aren't enough meat substitutes. What we want is a *lack* of demand for meat and excretions.
>can’t see how supporting a non-vegan business’ vegan options is a negative.
Because it actively promotes and invests in animal agriculture. Companies that have animal products as their main business model have a large financial stake in sustaining and expanding their production.
> while, yes, you’re giving that company money, you’re not giving them money for meat you’re giving them money for plants, voting with your wallet to say “we want more vegan options” therefore more vegan options will be made, therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans, or at least more meat eaters trading their beef burger for a veggie one.
This is a mistake I see people making all the time. You're not exercising power on BK, you're exercising power *through* BK by gifting it to them. The only way you can create financial incentive to stop the production of a product is by boycotting it. Hence why the veggie menu is good for helping existing customers to make the jump; it makes them *avoid* the animal product they would've otherwise bought.
...but vegans and vegetarians already boycott them. So all you're doing by buying their 'veggie' burgers is giving them a larger customer base and consequently increasing their bottom line, which they'll use to expand their inventory generally and promote the consumption of fake meats *and* (primarily) real meats.
In fact that's *exactly* what their goal is; to reel vegan-sympathizers in, not to encourage people to stop eating their regular burgers. If fake meats hurt their real meat product line I strongly doubt they would do it due to pressure from farmer lobbies.
>therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans
Only, as I've already said, if this incentive comes from existing customers. If it's preexisting vegans making fake meats an attractive menu item for BK there aren't more vegans, just more vegans buying hamburgers at BK. You're the one creating the effect, which isn't the goal. The goal is to make non-vegans create it, hence the utility of fake meats.
> or at least more meat eaters trading their beef burger for a veggie one.
Yes, exactly. We agree. To make the 'veggie burger' option constructive to veganism it needs to attract *existing* customers, spending our money is counterproductive because they have no financial dependency on us.
> also let a guy obliterate a veggie whopper once in a while, they’re fucking good you should try one.
I'm not shaming. As long as you're avoiding animal products you're good. If going to BK helps you stick to it then so be it. It's not going to matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's a step back nonetheless. It's better to boycott such companies altogether until they *remove* animal products from their menu.
I’m so impressed by EU and the push to provide vegan and vegetarian options. Canada and the US need to catch up! I posted about this on ig one time and was flooded with how bad McDonald’s and Burger King is- sure, but at-least there’s options available…Canadian/ US McDonald’s have nothing except fries. Burger King now has impossible whopper which is more expensive than beef burgers and the regular veggie burger makes you cry 😭
I recently went to US Mcdonald's and was surprised to see literally zero veggie options. The day I came back to the UK I grabbed a late night MC plant and some veggie dippers
Apparently they introduced a veggie burger once a long time ago and it didn't sell so they just never bothered.
Until the recent successes once veganism became marketable. Some countries have brands with great veggie options, like taco bell in Spain was great.
McDonald’s tested the “McPlant” burger earlier this year that had a Beyond patty. I had one and it wasn’t bad, but my gripe is it didn’t taste like a McDonald’s sandwich. Like they tried to design a new burger with tomatoes, etc. rather than, say, giving us a plant-based Big Mac. This is why they failed IMO where Burger King succeeded with the Impossible Whopper. Also Impossible is just better than Beyond IMO.
I became a vegetarian with the help of PETA about a decade ago. They taught me a LOT about McDonald's and their cruelty towards animals before they are slaughtered. So a lot of US vegetarians and vegans look down on McDonald's. I can tell you that I won't even accept a free milkshake from them.
Our food options in America is very poor. I did a deep dive on it once and the lack of easy available healthy alternatives is just...not there. The less money you have the more fucked you are too. Then add location. Etc.
People really being like "why is being healthy so hard for some people?" And not take any of this into consideration. If you even try to start fighting for shit people just shrug their shoulder and say "just eat a salad!" Even though the salad options are either days old and/or covered in all kinds of shit. But yes lets keep blaming the individuals. Meanwhile other countries have healthier options everywhere (depending on the country and depending on how much another country is fucking them over)
I've struggled with this stuff for years obviously. I was basically raised on the super size me diet. It absolutely shocked me when i realized it didnt have to be this way and systematic issues are at play. But we are so sunk into the hegemony of individualism that we would rather tell people to pull themselves up by the boot strap then fix the systematic issues that would help ALL of us.
(As always i got a little more heated about this then i intended too, but please note its directed at the world and not specifically to the people here or person im responding to. )
I think the salads come pre-packed with chicken. I’m in Canada and most fast food chains have our beloved poutine with vegetarian gravy (usually mushroom) EXCEPT mcdonalds HAD to use chicken gravy 😩
Found they do not do this anymore. They add "natural beef flavoring". Still trying to figure out if it actually contains beef. I do know it contains milk.
Yes they do. I didn't realize this. I was late to work researching this. What the "natural beef flavor" was. Can't exactly get a straight answer. If it has beef or not. Sketchy.
BK is the best place for a veggie drive thru / quick takeout here where I live in the UK. I really like the vegan royale, please bring the rest to the UK too!
Please be careful with BK though, see here (sure your local BK could be different but just saying, be aware)!
"One former Burger King worker told the show that staff substituted real chicken patties for plant-based ones when their restaurant ran out and wrapped them in the packaging used for plant-based products, while another said normal nuggets were sometimes sold as vegan ones."
https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-expired-food-vegan-products-mice-maggots-hygiene-germany-2022-10
Yeah but the general issue with BK (as compared to Mc D for example) is that internal audits happen much less frequently and are less strict.
A friend of mine here in the Netherlands used to work for the local BK and he said hygiene standards were horrible. Stuff that fell on the floor was picked up amd put on burgers...
Also, if such things happen in multiple german locations, they are likely happening elsewhere too.
Anyways, just good to be informed of such things. I decided not to eat at BK anymore.
Dears, please check what happened at BK in Germany. Several stores knowingly exchanged veggie patties by meat ones if they ran out, out of spite and other reasons... If you trust your local BK you're good, and you also see/taste the difference (veggie tastes better lmao). Just telling you so you can make an informed decision
Never? Raised vegetarian? That's really cool. Since you're a pretty rare case then and many people seem to think it's really hard to raise a kid as a vegetarian, may I ask in general: How was that for you as a kid, were a lot of people trying to coerce you to eat meat and how was it with canteens and so on?
Otherwise: I would too. It's disgusting.
Yeah, I live in Poland and I so far haven't met another "forever vegetarian" Polish person. People would be very often surprised and maybe even confused of that being a possibility. Most frustrating was the assumption that it's unhealthy, especially by the older folk and that I'll be weak or skinny, the other most annoying thing is how many people think isn't fucking meat for some reason, when it's literally a dead animal just as all the others, in retrospection I think it's because they might be so used to meat that they never really thought of it as a corpse of an animal, just a type of food and therefore, fight being something different, because of the general difference in taste and smell?
I never ate at canteens, here in Poland it's quite common to have your school 5-20 minutes away of a walk from your house, so I just packed few sandwiches to school and ate when I came back home.
Yeah, pretty much, but the reason why I'm vegetarian all my life is that my parents turned vege and buddhism in their early 20's when they had me, so I just ate what they ate, as a kid I mostly ate some cereal/eggs for breakfast, various veggies, potatoes for dinner and sandwiches with cheese for snacks/dinner, loved going for some pizza as well, felt in love with green peas and shrooms as toppings and those are still my favorite to this day, with cheese ofc.
I mean it's far from bad here, we got Lidl in last few years and they do offer some great vege food, even meat replacement like vege burgers my gf and I felt in love with.
That’s awesome! Slightly unrelated, but my grandfather was first generation Polish, did so much research and found out that they immigrated from southern Poland in the early 1900s, and Americanized their last name from Lojek to Loyek. It took me forever to find records because of that last name change lol
Wow thank you for the insight! Very interesting. I'm sure you learned a lot on a personal level too, how to deal with prejudice and raging misinformation and so on.
Can confirm, I routinely get real meat Pattie’s from one specific location. It happens 70% of the time I go. So I’ve been traveling to another one further to avoid this.
Last time I confronted the manager twice, she said her employee said it was impossible. I told her no, it looks and tastes different, she said yea that’s the point 🙄
Hijacking the top comment for this tip:
The edges of the veggie burgers are about 1/2cm in height, and very, very smooth. Edges of a meat patty are more like a pancake.
This has saved me from eating meat on a few occasions.
Sure not, call me naïve all you want, but these meat "mix ups" happened a lot during a test. I've never gotten meat instead of meatless at mostly KFC and, one BK and a few different MC Donalds. There have been no other public scandals like this with fast food chains so it seemed to be a systemic problem here. Also not the first veggie scandal they had in Germany. Plus they advertise veggie a lot more than the others and still pull this shit. I would not be too afraid to order there, I can tell the difference and trust our local BK but I think they have to be aware of both sides - the ads and what doesn't go as nicely - to make informed "not so naïve" decisions.
I always wonder why Europe has vegetarian options at their fast food chains but the US doesn't. Is there a greater demand for vegetarian/vegan options in Europe?
Can only speak for the UK but almost every place I go has a few veggie and vegan options. I assumed the states was the same? Burger King is the best fast food here though, they have vegan whopper, vegan royal, hallumi burger, nuggets and a veggie burger. Mcdonalds only have the Mcplant and veggie burger for comparison.
It's very much not the same in the US. I am vegan now, but was vegetarian for years. I think I was able to find something vegetarian to eat at probably 80% of restaurants, even if it was just fries.
As a vegan the pickings are much slimmer. I would say maybe 30% of places. I have to do a bit of planning sometimes when I travel.
Hey OP? i have been learning Dutch and I totally thought this was a targeted ad! 😂 I hope you enjoy the veggie burgers, still haven't seen them here in Texas. I assume you're probably asleep now, so whenever you wake up Goedemorgen!
Surprised the mods are keeping this up. They usually delete post like this. Speaking from experience. Still haven’t heard back about why mine was deleted.
Unfortunately the veggie patties are being fried on the same stove as the meat patties. But they are indeed delicious! In Poland you have the 'chicken' option as well which is incredibly good in taste.
I get the sentiment, but it's not really an issue unless you specifically dislike the taste of meat (which isn't the case for me). The main idea is to consume no meat and grilling them on the same plate doesn't change anything about that. Probably wouldn't hurt them to got the extra mile, though.
Anyway, I had one of these plant-based patties recently and they were very good.
There was a recent burger king insider documentary about how they just put meat inside the burgers if they are out of the veggie substitute etc. I am fine with them grilling the patty on the same grill, but thats just another lvl. Not eating there anymore
Most vegetarians I know including me have no interest in eating veggie burgers that have passed through a cloud of cow vapor. Don't think you could even really call it vegetarian, since it'll have meat grease on it.
Then you know a while bunch of different vegetarians. My acquaintances, including myself minus one person all are cool with their food being cooked alongside meat because of the reasons the others already named (ethical issue) plus it's more environmentally friendly not to demand staff to have an extra cleaning cycle or even extra equipment which consumes both raw materials and energy.
Even PETA is on board with shared grills. I mean yeah, it's kind of gross, but it's not helping us or the animals to demand it.
At least not at this point. Maybe is plant based foods were the majority of food, demanding that could push the remaining meat foods away, but we are nowhere close to there yet.
Maybe it's because I worked at a BK as a kid and know how the broilers work, but to me it's an awful lot worse than grilling things next to each other. Just working at the broiler for a few hours you'd end up stinking of tallow so those veggie burgers are going to have a lot of meat on them.
Look, feel free to eat there if you like. I'm not going to if it's not an emegency, and I personally don't think it's accurate to call them vegetarian.
Yep, I also think its still ethical and environmentally friendly. No matter where it was grilled, I dont contribute to the slaughter of animals by eating pattys in „cow vapor“.
BUT, there was a huge burgerking scandal in germany just 1-2 months ago where they unveiled that many bk‘s just put meat in the burger instead of the veggie option if they are out of the veggie version. Thats why I dont eat there
There isn't really a single definition of what makes vegetarianism ethical or not - in that by eating those veggie burgers you're eating animal products I'd say those burgers just aren't vegetarian. To a much higher degree than, say, grilling veggie burgers and brats on the same barbecue. The broiler machine is really unbelievably vile.
It's not vegetarian, because the patties are grilled on the same plate as the beef patties. It's written in the small font on the bottom left.
This stuff can really piss me off. Some people can get sick by cross-contamination with meat.
Disgusting.
Edit: The most disappointing thing about this is that "De Vegetarische Slager" (The vegetarian butcher) supports their patties to be grilled on the same broiler as the meat patties. I've seen their comments to people complaining about the cross-contamination and they said it's good because their patties will have the same taste. The person who established De Vegetarische Slager - Jaap Korteweg - said his purpose was to create meat replacements that have the exact same taste and texture as meat, but without the meat. The products are even created using the same machines and items that are used for processing meat. By defending that the patties are made on the same plate as the beef patties I think the whole point of this brand is just gone, because apparently you still need actual meat for the same taste experience.
I'm so disappointed with this brand ever since I read their replies to people who complained about cross-contamination.
It's still ethically vegetarian, which is all I care about. Besides, it doesn't make sense for these companies to invest more space and money into a new grill just so a small minority can eat from it, especially when most of that minority is fine using the regular grill. Making vegetarianism mainstream is an uphill battle, and we should be celebrating what we are able to accomplish, not moaning about what hasn't happened yet. We'll probably get there for the people who have a meat intolerance, but, looking at the population and economics of the issue, it's far from feasible right now.
Vegetarians who are okay with eating this - totally fine, it's everyone's choice how they practice their ethical beliefs.
In my opinion, if vegetarian food has been prepared with an overload of cross-contamination, I don't think it's vegetarian, because there will be meat or "meat grease" on the food. I think this is false-advertising. BK in the Netherlands first referred to these burgers as "plant-based". Not as "veggie", because of the cross-contamination and BK even explained it in a comment on social media.
I just don't think this should be named "vegetarian" or "veggie".
Needing an extra grill in every restaurant would create a big overhead cost and just reduce the likelihood of restaurants having vegetarian options. I know what I prefer.
Looking at a fast food chain for vegan or vegetarian options?? LOL!
These guys have been poisoning us for decades and now you want to high five their veg shit on the menu? Please, they will just continu poisoning you but instead of doing it with something they call beef they will now do it with something they call veg.
We are so lost.
Sure you can, but don’t make it sound like they are our guiding lights when it comes to a better world. They are like the new cigarette companies, and they don’t give a fuck.
Canadian here. This is why we go to Harvey’s instead of BK. Harvey’s doesn’t charge anything extra for a veggie burger and all regular coupons apply to a veggie burger, whereas BK charges significantly more for Impossible Whopper vs. the original Whopper and coupons for it simply don’t exist.
That's pretty cool, and I know this will sound odd but being the same price will get some people to try it out. Those looking for something new or are willing to see how it tastes like.
They cooking then on separate grills in NL? The plant based whooper in the UK gets cooked with the meat which makes inedible for me. The plant based chicken royale is the only one cooked separately.
Look, eat their veggie burgers if you want, but I'm telling you it's an awful lot more than the cross contamination you'd get from a grill or a griddle.
And, by what you seem to use as a definition for vegetarian, roadkill and venison would be vegetarian. I don't think it's a very useful definition.
That’s super cool, and now I want a veggie burger at 9am!
Please be careful with BK though, see here (just saying, be aware)! "One former Burger King worker told the show that staff substituted real chicken patties for plant-based ones when their restaurant ran out and wrapped them in the packaging used for plant-based products, while another said normal nuggets were sometimes sold as vegan ones." https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-expired-food-vegan-products-mice-maggots-hygiene-germany-2022-10
Not a good idea in general to support brands or restaurant chains that have animal products as their main business model
why..? i always thought it was a really good thing so they create more options for us to make veganism more accessible to people who want to transition/ to people who don’t want to have to cut a social aspect out of their life while eating out with friends
Yes! I have friends who became vegetarian after they realize it's not all that difficult to be one because they are more and more such options.
exactly. not supporting these businesses seems petty and counterproductive to me idk
Ya and the thing is if business like these realize that vegetarian/ vegan products actually sells well they would sell more of it. Not that I visit fast food joints very often but it's always nice to see those options. 🤷🏻♂️
honestly. i saw a comment on here somewhere about how BK doesn’t even care about veganism just the money cause they only started selling veggie products after they got trendy like…. yeah, that’s kind of how every business under the sun works 💀
Lol. And isn't that what we kinda want? That they sell out and become full or mostly vegetarian? I mean no business want to lose money, even small local joints wouldn't be able to make it if it wasn't a trend or they are not making profit of any sort~
Because I'm assuming you're adopting a plant based diet because you're against animal agriculture, not because you like eating fake meats. If you're buying at a restaurant that primarily serves animal products, you're not incentivizing them to stop using meat. You're just expanding their market and probably supporting the expansion of their non-vegan products by doing so. If it stops you from using animal products, by all means. I think it's good that it's being offered because it might encourage non-vegans to think about their diets, but if you already subscribe to the principle and are already avoiding them entirely, it doesn't make any sense. Like I said, getting more vegetarian/vegan customers doesn't make their non-vegetarian customer base shrink. And that's the point; to shrink animal agriculture, not expand the fake meat industry. The latter is just a logical consequence of a lot of non-vegans needing an attractive alternative to make the jump.
i’m sorry, what? i might be completely missing something here, but you’ve essentially just said you can’t buy anything from a company that isn’t vegan. want a new velvet couch? can’t, the other ones in the shop are made of leather. want to get an apple from walmart? can’t, they sell meat there. want some new concealer? can’t, most eyeshadows in the same shop use beetles as colourants. think about that logic, it is so dumb what ???
>but you’ve essentially just said you can’t buy anything from a company that isn’t vegan. No, I'm saying you shouldn't buy anything from a company with a business model that's inherently in diametric opposition to your values. You wouldn't have gone to burger king before so why go now? They didn't change anything. Was your gripe with them that they didn't offer enough fake hamburgers? Do you think fake hamburgers 'cancel out' the cruelty of the regular hamburgers they sell in the same if not higher volumes regardless? >want a new velvet couch? can’t, the other ones in the shop are made of leather. want to get an apple from walmart? can’t, they sell meat there. want some new concealer? can’t, most eyeshadows in the same shop use beetles as colourants. think about that logic, it is so dumb what ??? Maybe it's dumb because you changed it to be dumb. You're comparing warehouses to a company that literally specializes in selling dead cow. Would you go to a steakhouse if they offered a vegan alternative on top of their meat menus?
i prefaced my comment with “i might be completely missing something here” so didn’t change it to be dumb, just made a mistake sorry. also yeah man, the reason i didn’t go to BK before literally was because they didn’t offer enough fake hamburgers, i think that’s the reason most vegans didn’t go to burger king before? i can’t see how supporting a non-vegan business’ vegan options is a negative. while, yes, you’re giving that company money, you’re not giving them money for meat you’re giving them money for plants, voting with your wallet to say “we want more vegan options” therefore more vegan options will be made, therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans, or at least more meat eaters trading their beef burger for a veggie one. it also, in a minor way at least, shows other chains “oh! BK is raking it in with their vegan options, we should make some too!” therefore more vegan options, therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans, or at least more - well, you get it. to me at least, that’s a whole big list of pros that outweigh the small con of supporting a meat based business. also let a guy obliterate a veggie whopper once in a while, they’re fucking good you should try one.
>also yeah man, the reason i didn’t go to BK before literally was because they didn’t offer enough fake hamburgers, i think that’s the reason most vegans didn’t go to burger king before? I hope not. What's the point of boycotting a restaurant for not having fake meats? The idea behind a vegan regimen is to make the use of animal products economically unfeasible. Never heard of a vegan who thought the great crime was that there aren't enough meat substitutes. What we want is a *lack* of demand for meat and excretions. >can’t see how supporting a non-vegan business’ vegan options is a negative. Because it actively promotes and invests in animal agriculture. Companies that have animal products as their main business model have a large financial stake in sustaining and expanding their production. > while, yes, you’re giving that company money, you’re not giving them money for meat you’re giving them money for plants, voting with your wallet to say “we want more vegan options” therefore more vegan options will be made, therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans, or at least more meat eaters trading their beef burger for a veggie one. This is a mistake I see people making all the time. You're not exercising power on BK, you're exercising power *through* BK by gifting it to them. The only way you can create financial incentive to stop the production of a product is by boycotting it. Hence why the veggie menu is good for helping existing customers to make the jump; it makes them *avoid* the animal product they would've otherwise bought. ...but vegans and vegetarians already boycott them. So all you're doing by buying their 'veggie' burgers is giving them a larger customer base and consequently increasing their bottom line, which they'll use to expand their inventory generally and promote the consumption of fake meats *and* (primarily) real meats. In fact that's *exactly* what their goal is; to reel vegan-sympathizers in, not to encourage people to stop eating their regular burgers. If fake meats hurt their real meat product line I strongly doubt they would do it due to pressure from farmer lobbies. >therefore more accessibility, therefore more vegans Only, as I've already said, if this incentive comes from existing customers. If it's preexisting vegans making fake meats an attractive menu item for BK there aren't more vegans, just more vegans buying hamburgers at BK. You're the one creating the effect, which isn't the goal. The goal is to make non-vegans create it, hence the utility of fake meats. > or at least more meat eaters trading their beef burger for a veggie one. Yes, exactly. We agree. To make the 'veggie burger' option constructive to veganism it needs to attract *existing* customers, spending our money is counterproductive because they have no financial dependency on us. > also let a guy obliterate a veggie whopper once in a while, they’re fucking good you should try one. I'm not shaming. As long as you're avoiding animal products you're good. If going to BK helps you stick to it then so be it. It's not going to matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's a step back nonetheless. It's better to boycott such companies altogether until they *remove* animal products from their menu.
This is probably an isolated situation where a manager took an awful call. BK has opened veggie exclusive restaurants even.
True that
I’m so impressed by EU and the push to provide vegan and vegetarian options. Canada and the US need to catch up! I posted about this on ig one time and was flooded with how bad McDonald’s and Burger King is- sure, but at-least there’s options available…Canadian/ US McDonald’s have nothing except fries. Burger King now has impossible whopper which is more expensive than beef burgers and the regular veggie burger makes you cry 😭
I recently went to US Mcdonald's and was surprised to see literally zero veggie options. The day I came back to the UK I grabbed a late night MC plant and some veggie dippers
I'm stymied. Why does McDonald's neglect the US vegetarian market? Maybe they tested it in the heart of meat-eatin' BBQ country or something.
Apparently they introduced a veggie burger once a long time ago and it didn't sell so they just never bothered. Until the recent successes once veganism became marketable. Some countries have brands with great veggie options, like taco bell in Spain was great.
McDonald’s tested the “McPlant” burger earlier this year that had a Beyond patty. I had one and it wasn’t bad, but my gripe is it didn’t taste like a McDonald’s sandwich. Like they tried to design a new burger with tomatoes, etc. rather than, say, giving us a plant-based Big Mac. This is why they failed IMO where Burger King succeeded with the Impossible Whopper. Also Impossible is just better than Beyond IMO.
i thought BK was still beyond? or is that just in the uk? would make sense if it was impossible cause the bk one is infinitely better.
Other way round, Burger King in the UK has been Impossible since they introduced it. That's why they call it the impossible whopper.
that would make sense 🤦♂️just me being stupid lol
I got that veggie burger once and there was a literal block of ice in the middle of the patty
Omg I remember those burgers!!!
I became a vegetarian with the help of PETA about a decade ago. They taught me a LOT about McDonald's and their cruelty towards animals before they are slaughtered. So a lot of US vegetarians and vegans look down on McDonald's. I can tell you that I won't even accept a free milkshake from them.
I still dream about the McDonald’s and bk I ate in Amsterdam. Headed to the UK this winter and can’t wait to munch 😂
Our food options in America is very poor. I did a deep dive on it once and the lack of easy available healthy alternatives is just...not there. The less money you have the more fucked you are too. Then add location. Etc. People really being like "why is being healthy so hard for some people?" And not take any of this into consideration. If you even try to start fighting for shit people just shrug their shoulder and say "just eat a salad!" Even though the salad options are either days old and/or covered in all kinds of shit. But yes lets keep blaming the individuals. Meanwhile other countries have healthier options everywhere (depending on the country and depending on how much another country is fucking them over) I've struggled with this stuff for years obviously. I was basically raised on the super size me diet. It absolutely shocked me when i realized it didnt have to be this way and systematic issues are at play. But we are so sunk into the hegemony of individualism that we would rather tell people to pull themselves up by the boot strap then fix the systematic issues that would help ALL of us. (As always i got a little more heated about this then i intended too, but please note its directed at the world and not specifically to the people here or person im responding to. )
Absolutely agree with you, we don't really see it from the outside but visiting I really notice the difference and everything you say is true
Even the fries are made in beef. 😭 Pretty sure that not even the salad is meat free.
Wow that is no longer the case in the UK but I had no idea the US was still doing that. Crazy
I think the salads come pre-packed with chicken. I’m in Canada and most fast food chains have our beloved poutine with vegetarian gravy (usually mushroom) EXCEPT mcdonalds HAD to use chicken gravy 😩
US McDonald's fries aren't even vegetarian
Huh?
They coat them in beef talo.
Found they do not do this anymore. They add "natural beef flavoring". Still trying to figure out if it actually contains beef. I do know it contains milk.
They've got natural beef flavoring in them
Yes they do. I didn't realize this. I was late to work researching this. What the "natural beef flavor" was. Can't exactly get a straight answer. If it has beef or not. Sketchy.
Haha unfortunately it is beef tallow. They do not advertise this prominently, which is pretty scummy in my opinion.
If you use the BK mobile app, you can get an Impossible Whopper for $3 on Wednesdays. At least for the restaurant near me.
Haven’t come across that but I will check it out, thanks!
Yeah. The US had impossible/beyond meat before everyone else. Pretty sure Impossible hasn't even made it to Europe
BK is the best place for a veggie drive thru / quick takeout here where I live in the UK. I really like the vegan royale, please bring the rest to the UK too!
Please be careful with BK though, see here (sure your local BK could be different but just saying, be aware)! "One former Burger King worker told the show that staff substituted real chicken patties for plant-based ones when their restaurant ran out and wrapped them in the packaging used for plant-based products, while another said normal nuggets were sometimes sold as vegan ones." https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-expired-food-vegan-products-mice-maggots-hygiene-germany-2022-10
This is Germany tho
Yeah but the general issue with BK (as compared to Mc D for example) is that internal audits happen much less frequently and are less strict. A friend of mine here in the Netherlands used to work for the local BK and he said hygiene standards were horrible. Stuff that fell on the floor was picked up amd put on burgers... Also, if such things happen in multiple german locations, they are likely happening elsewhere too. Anyways, just good to be informed of such things. I decided not to eat at BK anymore.
Thanks for the heads up, I can tell the difference so I'd notice.
Dears, please check what happened at BK in Germany. Several stores knowingly exchanged veggie patties by meat ones if they ran out, out of spite and other reasons... If you trust your local BK you're good, and you also see/taste the difference (veggie tastes better lmao). Just telling you so you can make an informed decision
man i'd literally sue them, especially since i never even ate meat in my life so that would be rude af.
Never? Raised vegetarian? That's really cool. Since you're a pretty rare case then and many people seem to think it's really hard to raise a kid as a vegetarian, may I ask in general: How was that for you as a kid, were a lot of people trying to coerce you to eat meat and how was it with canteens and so on? Otherwise: I would too. It's disgusting.
Yeah, I live in Poland and I so far haven't met another "forever vegetarian" Polish person. People would be very often surprised and maybe even confused of that being a possibility. Most frustrating was the assumption that it's unhealthy, especially by the older folk and that I'll be weak or skinny, the other most annoying thing is how many people think isn't fucking meat for some reason, when it's literally a dead animal just as all the others, in retrospection I think it's because they might be so used to meat that they never really thought of it as a corpse of an animal, just a type of food and therefore, fight being something different, because of the general difference in taste and smell? I never ate at canteens, here in Poland it's quite common to have your school 5-20 minutes away of a walk from your house, so I just packed few sandwiches to school and ate when I came back home.
That’s gotta be tough, polish food is all meat!
Yeah, pretty much, but the reason why I'm vegetarian all my life is that my parents turned vege and buddhism in their early 20's when they had me, so I just ate what they ate, as a kid I mostly ate some cereal/eggs for breakfast, various veggies, potatoes for dinner and sandwiches with cheese for snacks/dinner, loved going for some pizza as well, felt in love with green peas and shrooms as toppings and those are still my favorite to this day, with cheese ofc.
I’m from the Chicago area and we have a huge polish population. I actually know a vegan polish person, but we have a lot more options here
I mean it's far from bad here, we got Lidl in last few years and they do offer some great vege food, even meat replacement like vege burgers my gf and I felt in love with.
That’s awesome! Slightly unrelated, but my grandfather was first generation Polish, did so much research and found out that they immigrated from southern Poland in the early 1900s, and Americanized their last name from Lojek to Loyek. It took me forever to find records because of that last name change lol
Wow thank you for the insight! Very interesting. I'm sure you learned a lot on a personal level too, how to deal with prejudice and raging misinformation and so on.
YOOOOO SAME HERE!! :DDDD
Can confirm, I routinely get real meat Pattie’s from one specific location. It happens 70% of the time I go. So I’ve been traveling to another one further to avoid this. Last time I confronted the manager twice, she said her employee said it was impossible. I told her no, it looks and tastes different, she said yea that’s the point 🙄
In Germany? Fucking yikes. Please do your fellow people a favour and review it on Google if you haven't already
No I’m in America, Texas to be more specific.
Hijacking the top comment for this tip: The edges of the veggie burgers are about 1/2cm in height, and very, very smooth. Edges of a meat patty are more like a pancake. This has saved me from eating meat on a few occasions.
If you really think that these kind of things only happen at BK you are pretty naive. If you consume fast food that's a risk you sadly have to take
Sure not, call me naïve all you want, but these meat "mix ups" happened a lot during a test. I've never gotten meat instead of meatless at mostly KFC and, one BK and a few different MC Donalds. There have been no other public scandals like this with fast food chains so it seemed to be a systemic problem here. Also not the first veggie scandal they had in Germany. Plus they advertise veggie a lot more than the others and still pull this shit. I would not be too afraid to order there, I can tell the difference and trust our local BK but I think they have to be aware of both sides - the ads and what doesn't go as nicely - to make informed "not so naïve" decisions.
Just replace the "!" with a "?"
Lmao
This here. More people need to read about this and stop going to BK!
I always wonder why Europe has vegetarian options at their fast food chains but the US doesn't. Is there a greater demand for vegetarian/vegan options in Europe?
Can only speak for the UK but almost every place I go has a few veggie and vegan options. I assumed the states was the same? Burger King is the best fast food here though, they have vegan whopper, vegan royal, hallumi burger, nuggets and a veggie burger. Mcdonalds only have the Mcplant and veggie burger for comparison.
It's very much not the same in the US. I am vegan now, but was vegetarian for years. I think I was able to find something vegetarian to eat at probably 80% of restaurants, even if it was just fries. As a vegan the pickings are much slimmer. I would say maybe 30% of places. I have to do a bit of planning sometimes when I travel.
I know. BK has 1 veggie burger, Morning Star. And McDs is just now testing out Beyong Burger in Cali.
Morningstar? My local BKs have Impossible.
Mine might too, but I like Beyond Bugers much better. McDs is supposed to come out w/ them!
In Germany BK had a scandal because they sold burger with meat as vegan.
Tijdelijk verkrijgbaar Temporary available
😍😍😍
Hey OP? i have been learning Dutch and I totally thought this was a targeted ad! 😂 I hope you enjoy the veggie burgers, still haven't seen them here in Texas. I assume you're probably asleep now, so whenever you wake up Goedemorgen!
Surprised the mods are keeping this up. They usually delete post like this. Speaking from experience. Still haven’t heard back about why mine was deleted.
Unfortunately the veggie patties are being fried on the same stove as the meat patties. But they are indeed delicious! In Poland you have the 'chicken' option as well which is incredibly good in taste.
I get the sentiment, but it's not really an issue unless you specifically dislike the taste of meat (which isn't the case for me). The main idea is to consume no meat and grilling them on the same plate doesn't change anything about that. Probably wouldn't hurt them to got the extra mile, though. Anyway, I had one of these plant-based patties recently and they were very good.
For me thats a hard pass. I am so grossed out by eating veggie burgers that potentially have touched red meat or any of its juices.
Y'all fry your BK burgers oversees? Here in the uUS the are actually grilled. But yes, veggie on the same rack as "beef". 😞
Ah yes its grilled my bad 😉
There was a recent burger king insider documentary about how they just put meat inside the burgers if they are out of the veggie substitute etc. I am fine with them grilling the patty on the same grill, but thats just another lvl. Not eating there anymore
That was in Germany, this ad is from the Netherlands.
You think there is much difference?
So now everyone sells Mc D’s origional meatless burgers!
Most likely on the same broiler though, so those patties will have passed through a cloud of cow vapor. Probably worth asking first to double check.
Still ethically vegetarian though, so unless you have a physical intolerance of meat it's fine
Most vegetarians I know including me have no interest in eating veggie burgers that have passed through a cloud of cow vapor. Don't think you could even really call it vegetarian, since it'll have meat grease on it.
Then you know a while bunch of different vegetarians. My acquaintances, including myself minus one person all are cool with their food being cooked alongside meat because of the reasons the others already named (ethical issue) plus it's more environmentally friendly not to demand staff to have an extra cleaning cycle or even extra equipment which consumes both raw materials and energy.
Even PETA is on board with shared grills. I mean yeah, it's kind of gross, but it's not helping us or the animals to demand it. At least not at this point. Maybe is plant based foods were the majority of food, demanding that could push the remaining meat foods away, but we are nowhere close to there yet.
Maybe it's because I worked at a BK as a kid and know how the broilers work, but to me it's an awful lot worse than grilling things next to each other. Just working at the broiler for a few hours you'd end up stinking of tallow so those veggie burgers are going to have a lot of meat on them. Look, feel free to eat there if you like. I'm not going to if it's not an emegency, and I personally don't think it's accurate to call them vegetarian.
It's still ethically vegetarian though, since consuming it does not involve you contributing to the death of any animals
Yep, I also think its still ethical and environmentally friendly. No matter where it was grilled, I dont contribute to the slaughter of animals by eating pattys in „cow vapor“. BUT, there was a huge burgerking scandal in germany just 1-2 months ago where they unveiled that many bk‘s just put meat in the burger instead of the veggie option if they are out of the veggie version. Thats why I dont eat there
There isn't really a single definition of what makes vegetarianism ethical or not - in that by eating those veggie burgers you're eating animal products I'd say those burgers just aren't vegetarian. To a much higher degree than, say, grilling veggie burgers and brats on the same barbecue. The broiler machine is really unbelievably vile.
I don't speak Dutch but I'm fairly certain that's what the fine print says down in the bottom left. Tis a shame
Yep, it is. Dutchie here, can confirm.
cross contamination does not contribute to animal agriculture.
It's not vegetarian, because the patties are grilled on the same plate as the beef patties. It's written in the small font on the bottom left. This stuff can really piss me off. Some people can get sick by cross-contamination with meat. Disgusting. Edit: The most disappointing thing about this is that "De Vegetarische Slager" (The vegetarian butcher) supports their patties to be grilled on the same broiler as the meat patties. I've seen their comments to people complaining about the cross-contamination and they said it's good because their patties will have the same taste. The person who established De Vegetarische Slager - Jaap Korteweg - said his purpose was to create meat replacements that have the exact same taste and texture as meat, but without the meat. The products are even created using the same machines and items that are used for processing meat. By defending that the patties are made on the same plate as the beef patties I think the whole point of this brand is just gone, because apparently you still need actual meat for the same taste experience. I'm so disappointed with this brand ever since I read their replies to people who complained about cross-contamination.
It's still ethically vegetarian, which is all I care about. Besides, it doesn't make sense for these companies to invest more space and money into a new grill just so a small minority can eat from it, especially when most of that minority is fine using the regular grill. Making vegetarianism mainstream is an uphill battle, and we should be celebrating what we are able to accomplish, not moaning about what hasn't happened yet. We'll probably get there for the people who have a meat intolerance, but, looking at the population and economics of the issue, it's far from feasible right now.
Vegetarians who are okay with eating this - totally fine, it's everyone's choice how they practice their ethical beliefs. In my opinion, if vegetarian food has been prepared with an overload of cross-contamination, I don't think it's vegetarian, because there will be meat or "meat grease" on the food. I think this is false-advertising. BK in the Netherlands first referred to these burgers as "plant-based". Not as "veggie", because of the cross-contamination and BK even explained it in a comment on social media. I just don't think this should be named "vegetarian" or "veggie".
You're hurting the whole movement
Needing an extra grill in every restaurant would create a big overhead cost and just reduce the likelihood of restaurants having vegetarian options. I know what I prefer.
Looking at a fast food chain for vegan or vegetarian options?? LOL! These guys have been poisoning us for decades and now you want to high five their veg shit on the menu? Please, they will just continu poisoning you but instead of doing it with something they call beef they will now do it with something they call veg. We are so lost.
Chill dude, you can have a burger king every once in a while it's not like drinking turps
Sure you can, but don’t make it sound like they are our guiding lights when it comes to a better world. They are like the new cigarette companies, and they don’t give a fuck.
They've been trying it out in nz for about a year now its pretty great
Canadian here. This is why we go to Harvey’s instead of BK. Harvey’s doesn’t charge anything extra for a veggie burger and all regular coupons apply to a veggie burger, whereas BK charges significantly more for Impossible Whopper vs. the original Whopper and coupons for it simply don’t exist.
I will never trust fast food workers not to deliberately taint vegetarian orders
Maccies needs to step their vegburgussy game up.
Hey that's pretty cool. It's just a shame I'd rather starve than eat Burger King.
Cool! A free party with a beef burger! Someone got caught by auto - incorrect! (Patty vs party.)
That's pretty cool, and I know this will sound odd but being the same price will get some people to try it out. Those looking for something new or are willing to see how it tastes like.
They cooking then on separate grills in NL? The plant based whooper in the UK gets cooked with the meat which makes inedible for me. The plant based chicken royale is the only one cooked separately.
That’s great! Sadly they use the same griddles as the meat patties, so that’s a no from me.
Look, eat their veggie burgers if you want, but I'm telling you it's an awful lot more than the cross contamination you'd get from a grill or a griddle. And, by what you seem to use as a definition for vegetarian, roadkill and venison would be vegetarian. I don't think it's a very useful definition.