After a vegan cheeseburger crashed and burned Burger King has successfully rolled out a true alternative to meat burgers for vegans working with Impossible Foods to make the vegan Impossible Burger. First thought to be an April Fools joke, the Impossible Burger is now on the menu at St. Louis with one carnivore inclined customer saying that he would not have known that it was plant-based.
Finally, the last barrier to mankind heading for the stars has been reached.
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The Impossible Whopper is coming to every Burger King in America next week
Burger King will start selling its meatless Whopper across the United States on August 8, the biggest rollout for Impossible's plant-based product.
The burger chain has been selling the Impossible Whopper, featuring a meatless patty made by Impossible Foods, in a few markets in the United States since April. It first tested the product in St. Louis before announcing in May that it would offer the Impossible Whopper nationally this year.
Interest in plant-based protein has surged as many people try to reduce their meat intake for health or environmental reasons. US retail sales of plant-based foods have grown 11% in the past year, according to a July report from trade group Plant Based Foods Association and the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that supports plant-based businesses.
Previously: Meatless "Beyond Burgers" Come to Fast Food Restaurants
Burger King Adds Impossible Vegan Burger To Menu
Related: Impossible Foods Just Raised $75 Million for Its Plant-based Burgers
Inside the Strange Science of the Fake Meat that 'Bleeds'
FDA Approves Impossible Burger "Heme" Ingredient; Still Wants to Regulate "Cultured Meat"
Following IPO of Beyond Meat, Tyson Foods Plans Launch of its Own Meatless Products
Lawsuit claims Burger King's Impossible Whoppers are contaminated by meat
Burger King was sued on Monday by a vegan customer who accused the fast-food chain of contaminating its meatless "Impossible" Whoppers by cooking them on the same grills as its traditional meat burgers.
In a proposed class action, Phillip Williams said he bought an Impossible Whopper, a plant-based alternative to Burger King's regular Whopper, at an Atlanta drive-through, and would not have paid a premium price had he known the cooking would leave it "coated in meat by-products."
The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court seeks damages for all U.S. purchasers of the Impossible Whopper, and an injunction requiring Burger King to "plainly disclose" that Impossible Whoppers and regular burgers are cooked on the same grills.
[...] Its website describes the Impossible Burger as "100% Whopper, 0% Beef," and adds that "for guests looking for a meat-free option, a non-broiler method of preparation is available upon request."
Also at Boing Boing.
Previously: Meatless "Beyond Burgers" Come to Fast Food Restaurants
Burger King Adds Impossible Vegan Burger To Menu
Plant-Based "Impossible Burger" Coming to Every Burger King Location
Related: Inside the Strange Science of the Fake Meat that 'Bleeds'
FDA Approves Impossible Burger "Heme" Ingredient; Still Wants to Regulate "Cultured Meat"
Following IPO of Beyond Meat, Tyson Foods Plans Launch of its Own Meatless Products
Impossible Burger Lands in Some California Grocery Stores
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @10:00PM (4 children)
"he would not have known that it was plant-based", which means that it's so unbelievably transformed that it cannot possibbly be healthier that its meat counterpart.
But then, "veganism" has never been about healthy eating anyway.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @10:17PM
Dumb assumption
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Sunday April 07 2019, @03:50AM
Not really. From the sound of it, it's a pretty typical veggie-burger, only with more effort put in to getting the texture right since they managed to solve the flavor problem by using heme - the iron-rich oxygen-transporting molecule responsible for giving blood (and thus meat) much of its color and flavor.
The fun part is they brew the heme like beer, using yeast genetically modified to produce the same heme molecule found in soybean roots (which apparently is a close substitute for mammal heme only, I assume, more compatible with splicing the controlling genes into yeast.
Quite aside from being a "miraculous" food additive, it seems to me that the ability to brew heme by the barrel could eventually also have great benefits as a feed stock for artificial blood production.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Monday April 08 2019, @03:55AM
This. It's so sad but true. We see lots of ads all the time saying, same amount of protein, taste, smell, texture, blah blah blah. However, one missing information is always how our body process it. It processes animal protein different than non-animal protein (i.e. digestion, absorption, etc.) and that is always missing in the information - deliberately or ignorantly who knows.
The jury's still out in terms of substituting one for the other gram for gram in the long term I would think.
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Monday April 08 2019, @04:38PM
A lot of vegans are vegan because they don't want animals to suffer, and because plant-based diets are a much smaller drain on the environment than growing plants to feed animals and then eating the animals. Cows in particular are the least environmentally efficient of the common meat sources - if you don't care about animal suffering but care about the environment, switching to chicken, turkey, lamb, and pork is better.
I haven't had the Impossible Burger. The Beyond Meat Burger, which flat out tastes good (unlike most veggie burgers) is basically nutritionally identical to a beef burger in total calories, fats, and protein, it just has 4 grams of fiber and 3 grams of other carbohydrates. It's not cheap, though.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday April 06 2019, @10:06PM (5 children)
100% Beef is in no way a requirement I have. But 100% veggie has been very hard to make meat-like for any reasonable cost.
I was kinda sad when the fast food industry started chewing each other up over being 100% Beef :-\
This is
I'm not opposed, but that's gonna freak out the true believers.
Here's hoping.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 06 2019, @11:49PM (1 child)
These burgers cost $1 more than the meet paddy burgers.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Sunday April 07 2019, @03:59AM
Which is actually quite reasonable. There have been fairly meaty experimental plant-based burgers in the past, but they've often cost well over $10 per patty to make.
Being able to brew plant-based "blood" (aka "meat flavor") like it's beer has really been a huge advance towards making economical pseudo-meat.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Sunday April 07 2019, @03:54AM
Agreed - a good blend of "fillers" can actually make for a much more satisfying sandwich. I'm a big fan of fat juicy grilled meatloaf patties myself.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday April 07 2019, @06:20AM (1 child)
Yes, eat bug protein, cows will be forbidden in the new Socialist Paradise!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @09:47AM
I would have never guessed that Burger King was a socialist plot.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Saturday April 06 2019, @10:17PM (2 children)
Wait, so you are saying their regular burgers actually have MEAT in them? I would not have known that it was anything but raw sewage.
(Score: 5, Touché) by c0lo on Saturday April 06 2019, @10:40PM
That 'splains the "no difference" one can perceive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @09:19PM
The sewage was added by the employee as a bonus just for you.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by hoeferbe on Saturday April 06 2019, @11:56PM (7 children)
I happened to be in St. Louis this past week and purposely stopped at a Burger King to try the Impossible Whopper. This was at 11:00 in the morning, and they were already sold out. I was told they'd have some more the next day.
While in the dining room eating the regular Whopper, I overheard 3 drive-thru customers and 2 other walk-in customers requesting it.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Sunday April 07 2019, @02:13AM
Well, it sounds like it's getting interest :-)
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Sunday April 07 2019, @03:12AM (1 child)
I had the Impossible Slider at White Castle last week. I know the expectation is low with White Castle, but I think it is the best item on the menu, and went back for more.
Perhaps I'm most impressed with the 2 dollar price point. Given cheese is included and the patty is much thicker than White Castle's hamburger options, this price is in-line with the menu. My takeaway is this vegetarian option can compete both in price and taste with fast food.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @05:05AM
I am shocked at the price they charge to add a slice of cheese.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @02:36PM (3 children)
What you are seeing is the effect of a good marketing campaign. They already had a veggie option for a burger...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @03:44PM (1 child)
Lettuce and condiments in a burger wrapper is not as appetizing as it sounds.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @07:31PM
They've had a veggie burger (ie with a vegetable-based patty) on the menu for ~15 years. It makes no attempt to taste like meat though. I wish more places had veggie burgers - they can taste even better than meat when done right. Millet patties, bean-based, etc., I've had a lot of good variants due to my vegetarian sisters.
(Score: 2) by Wierd0n3 on Sunday April 07 2019, @06:08PM
Yeah, i always get a request from a friend of mine for the veggie whopper when i head out of town. basically a boca burger.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Sunday April 07 2019, @09:18PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @09:25PM
Last time I had a Whopper it was absolutely swimming in ketchup and mayo. Literally mouthful after mouthful of hot greasy salty sludge. I get enough of that at home.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Sunday April 07 2019, @10:30PM
On a 4-sided triangular bun. Cost? $4.00/0.
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