Burger King veggieburger bun not vegan

[Guest guest]

Language is REALLY crucial here, since we need to be careful about our facts.

 

The logical (and factual) distinction on vegans' issues with the BK BURGER is

between:

- being PREPARED with added mayonnaise

- having mayonnaise inside the burger itself ( " contains " )

 

For vegans the issue with the BUN is that the strangely optional bun has BOTH

butter flavor AND polysorbate 60, which I'm told is animal derived (or is that

only polysorbate 80?).

 

Meanwhile, I'm more interesting in getting a TRULY vegan-acceptable POWDERED

nondairy coffee creamer, not that any of us should be drinking the rotgut coffee

(which is a killer).

 

Maynard

ebbrewpunx wrote:

by Erik Marcus at Vegan.com

 

I have some not-so-great news to report. Fortunately, since I'm publishing this

online, I don't have to worry about anyone shooting the messenger. Today, more

than 8300 Burger Kings across the United States launch their VeggieBurger. When

this burger was first announced a few months ago, it was supposed to be a vegan

product. Well, it's not.

 

I found out a few days ago that the burger was about to be launched, so I put in

a call to Burger King's headquarters. I was initially told that the default

burger would be unacceptable to vegans, but could be prepared vegan if the

customer made two requests. The reason the default burger wasn't vegan, I was

told, is that it contains low-fat mayonnaise, and is cooked on the same grill on

which Burger King cooks its regular beef burgers.

 

However, it's easy to get around these two issues. Anyone who goes to a Burger

King can ask that the burger patty be microwaved. That way, it won't come in

contact with cooking surfaces that are used all day long to cook beef. This

microwave option is available at every Burger King, and I was told that all

franchises have been asked to make this option available for vegetarians who

request it.

 

The mayonnaise problem is even easier to handle. You can just them to hold the

mayo, and they will honor your request.

 

During my conversation with a company spokeswoman, she asked if I would like an

ingredient listing. I gave her my email address, and in five minutes I had her

email in my in-box. When I scrolled down to the bun ingredients, here's what I

saw (I've set the offending ingredient in boldface):

 

ENRICHED FLOUR (NIACIN, IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, AND FOLIC ACID),

WATER, SUGAR, (SUCROSE OR HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP), VEGETABLE SHORTENING,

YEAST, SALT, WHEAT GLUTEN, SESAME SEEDS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL BUTTER FLAVOR,

YEAST FOOD (CALCIUM SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODATE, AND/OR AMMONIUM SULFATE), DOUGH

CONDITIONERS (POLYSORBATE 60, CALCIUM PEROXIDE [OXIDANT], CALCIUM SALTS,

SULFATES, PHOSPHATES, AND AMMONIUM SALTS), DOUGH STRENGTHENERS (SODIUM AND/OR

CALCIUM-2-STEAROYL LACTYLATE OR ETHOXYLATED MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES), DOUGH

SOFTENERS (MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, AND/OR PROTEASE ENZYME). MOLD INHIBITOR

(CALCIUM PROPIONATE), PRESERVATIVE (POTASSIUM SORBATE), OXIDATION REDUCTION

ADDITIVES (ASCORBIC ACID,

POTASSIUM/CALCIUM IODATE, ALPHA-AMYLASE, AZODICARBONAMIDE), LEAVENING AGENT

(MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE).

 

I then exchanged a couple more emails with her, which established that this

butter flavor is dairy-derived. Now, I can cheerfully eat a burger without

mayonnaise, but it's pretty difficult to eat one without the bun.

 

What Went Wrong?

 

When news of Burger King's Veggieburger first came out a few months ago, it was

widely reported that the burger would be entirely vegan. It was also reported

that the burger would come on a vegan whole wheat bun. I don't know this for

sure, but I bet what happened is that, somewhere along the line, some official

at Burger King decided that the regular white bun would be good enough. Maybe

the whole wheat bun would take extra time to develop, or maybe they just decided

it wasn't worth carrying an extra bun item in inventory.

 

So where does this leave vegans? It's worth bearing in mind that the amount of

dairy in this bun is incredibly tiny. The bun has more sesame seeds than dairy,

and it even contains more salt than dairy. Even though the amount of dairy is

tiny, I personally wouldn't feel right eating this product. After all, it's not

vegan.

 

Even though I'm disappointed, I will still strongly urge my non-vegetarian

friends to give this product a try. This product may not be suitable for vegans,

but it could still do more to help farm animals than any product that has ever

come to market. For the first time ever, you can walk into a fast-food

establishment and order a burger that is, for all practical purposes, vegan.

 

I think it's extremely important that vegans take as much advantage of this

product as possible, in terms of letting the non-vegetarian world know about its

launch. Probably the main reason people don't become vegetarian is the fear of

reduced food choices and inconvenience. Now, for the first time, you can walk

into any Burger King and order a burger just like anybody else—and what you'll

get will be totally vegetarian and nearly vegan. I know that, back when I was

contemplating going vegetarian, the decision would have been a snap if I knew I

could still eat at Burger King.

 

As for me, I'm feeling a bit like Moses, and perhaps you are too. I may not have

walked around a desert for forty years, but I've been vegan for almost fifteen,

and now I'm being denied the promised land of being able to eat a vegan

Veggieburger at Burger King. As disappointed as I am that I won't personally get

to try this product, I hope the Burger King Veggieburger not only succeeds, but

that it's a smash-hit product. If it does succeed, you can count on McDonald's

and Wendy's rushing similar products to market. Such an event would mark the

biggest step forward for America's farm animals in history.

 

And maybe one day, Burger King will introduce that long-awaited vegan whole

wheat bun. With the launch of BK's Veggieburger, we vegans have some reason to

feel let down. But this launch is also a sure sign that we're making progress.

 

 

 

 

 

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