Burger King’s New Rebel Whopper Is Kind of Vegan If You Squint At It

Kooky types Burger King debut vegan burger that is not suitable for vegans

“What if we made a vegan burger, but then cooked it in a way that made it non-vegan?” Burger King’s Rebel Whopper, which debuts in Europe and is soon to be on its way to the U.K., according to Bloomberg, is vegan. Burger King cooks its vegan burgers on the same grill as its beef burgers, which means it is not vegan. Vegan when raw, not vegan when cooked, but no-one eats a burger because it’s cooked. Schrödinger’s patt(y.) It also puts mayonnaise on the burger, which, why (and, not vegan.)

The Impossible Burger, which the company uses in the U.S. is not yet available in the U.K. because heme, the soy-derived protein that adds umami and creates the “bleed” has not been approved as an ingredient, but Burger King’s sizeable roll-out suggests that this is more than a stop-gap. Will there be conflict when heme is approved as safe? Probably. Is Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat’s adoption as saviours of the world troubling? Yes. Will Burger King’s balance sheet care? Unlikely. [Bloomberg]

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