burger king veggie burger not vegan, nor bun

[Guest guest]

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.

[Guest guest]

Ben wrote...

 

>thank goodness. what a horrible idea... vegans in burger king. who needs

>that kind of 'choice'

>vegans should learn to cook and eat real food. the longer we are denied

>'fast food' the better.

>the easy it gets to be vegan, the more junk processed convenience food that

>is made available to us, the less we have to learn, the less we are

>challenged and more we conform. many of the health benefits, environmental

>benefits and ethical benefits of a vegan diet are lost when we eat

>processed food.

 

I whole heartedly agree, [or should that be whole meal bun] anyway, I refuse

to even enter a burger king/mcDonalds for those reasons you mention. They

are not getting MY money. I feel very uncomfortable sitting in that kind of

environment anyway. All I hear most kids talking about is McDonalds,

McDonalds, McDonalds as if that's all they know what food is. grrr. It's

very sad that many of them have probably never tasted a wholesome nourishing

home cooked meal. Really bugs me.

Dee

 

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[Guest guest]

I'm glad Ben got here before me as he said it better than I could

right now! Why would anyone want to eat in Burger King?? Becoming

vegan was the best excuse I could think of for avoiding those places.

I used to end up in there when I was veggie, but no longer! I'm a

teenager, I'm supposed to live in those places but even I refuse to

surrender money to those morons!

Actually the last time I went to Burger King, I went with some

friends to be sociable and brought in a salad and ate it in. It was

bizzarre but I don't think I'll do it again, the smell makes me feel

really ill, although not as bad as the smell of KFC.

Seriously, I eat enough gak as it is. I don't need more! Stay at home

and cook cous cous with peppers and mushrooms and tomatoes and

sultanas and vegan pesto (my lunch today..yummy!)