Vegans sue Burger King over meat contamination of Impossible Burger Whopper

No, it’s not. Kosher and halal are dietary codes, and backed by centuries of adjudication. Those that insist on proper kosher (or one of the sub types) and halal know to look for certification from a third party. Is there an accepted vegan certification authority? Did BK advertise they meet this certification? Then vegans should expect the same risk of contamination that someone eating kosher or halal at restaurant specializing in ham sandwiches without the certificate of kosher/halal conformance.

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This is how it appears on the menu. I’d hope “0% BEEF” would make its meatless origins clear, but I’m sure someone will find a way to be offended by it :slight_smile:

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Let’s face it: If you go into a Burger King, you’re inhaling meat smoke. You will have meat particulates on your hair and clothing. It’s all a matter of degrees. And yes, I know vegetarians and vegans for whom this might be an issue.

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To me it’s not deceptive, but neither is it totally transparent, so yeah, they should add a note that it’s prepared on the same surface with meat. As @anon61221983 said, it’s the least they can do. No reason to make customers who want to know have to ask.

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Dollars to donuts (cough) that the buns aren’t Vegan.

EDIT: apparently they are…

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Which is so funny, given how prominently potatoes feature in any good veggie burger. Also given how easy it is to tell what’s in a veggie burger compared to an Impossible Burger (or beef burger for that matter) and the high probability that they’ve eaten all those things before

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In my experience, vegans no more tend to be pathological than anyone else. Stereotyping people for their dietary choices OTOH…

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There is even more amounts of human, rat, and insect urine and feces, as well as saliva, snot, puss and god knows what else.

Kitchens are filthy, and even if you adhere to industry safety standards, it is still full of gunk you don’t WANT to eat, but at levels that are safe. God help you for the ones lax on the standards. Every watch Kitchen Nightmares?? I would assume they scrape off the grill/conveyor belt just to get rid of old grease etc, but I am not sure the level of sterility being requested is practical.

And I’m not trying to demonize vegans. I personally think its great BK is attempting to expand into this market with more options. We ALL would benefit from less red meat (me included). But I think this lawsuit is going to cause more harm that good. IMHO. YMMV.

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Well, there’s metonymy and then there’s inaccuracy, but my pedantry was tongue-in-cheek.

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When I worked at BK (which was a million years ago, so things may have changed), they did use a flame broiler with a rolling chain. Frozen burger patties would be thrown onto the chain as orders came in. Small pieces of the patties would sometimes stick to the chain, so you had to use a metal brush on it as it rolled to get those off. Also, the cooked patties would drop off the grill onto a piece of metal with holes for fat to drip, where they were taken off with tongs. So that’s where the “impossible burgers” would come in most contact with beef fat.

In @emo_pinata’s screenshot, the “non-broiler method of preparation” they’re talking about probably involves a trip through a microwave rather than through the broiler.

This makes me wonder whether the plaintiff has the legal right to tell BK how to cook their food.

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If a person is vegan for ethical/environmental reasons, why would they give money to Burger King?

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But it’s not ‘cooked in beef fat’, or any fat, it’s flame-grilled on a metal griddle with a flame underneath, the only ‘fat’ is whatever might ooze from the patty, but the griddles are regularly scraped and scrubbed clean of any deposits.
You do understand how how a flame-grilled burger is cooked, don’t you?

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I wasn’t talking about certifications. Just dietary standards. I think its resonable that vegans would expect that meat doesn’t touch their food during prep. Just as those with celiac who eat at GF joints or people with peanut allergies don’t expect their food will come in contact with related contaminants at establishments that advertise those food selections.

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That’s the truth. One BK I worked at had cockroaches running through food preparation areas, and rats outside in the garbage. Which is why I stopped eating at BK.

(They did tear down and clean/degrease the grill at the end of every day.)

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Typically, yes. Contentious establishments will use separate grills, utensils, fry baskets, etc to prevent meat and non-meat cross contamination. If they can’t or won’t and this is a problem, vote with your feet. Meatless != vegan/vegetarian.

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Being allergic to gluten is not the same thing as not wanting to eat animal products. One is a health and safety issue, the other is a dietary preference.

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I hate to spoil things for you, but I pretty much guarantee that the garbage outside The French Laundry has rats in it, too.

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TIL­­

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Yeah, you mentioned kosher and halal. Standards. And people adhering to them know that the way you ensure a place is adhering to those standards is not by looking at advertising.

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