6 ms·
Its kinda misleading, there's still animal products in this because of how the food is prepared...
by bifrost 8y ago
Its kinda misleading, there's still animal products in this because of how the food is prepared...
- Consultant32452 8y agoCan you be more specific? Are you referring to cheese? Do they cook the burger in animal fat?
- sciurus 8y agoA Whopper contains mayonnaise, which is made from egg yolk. I assume that's what bifrost meant by "animal products".
- pazimzadeh 8y agoI think that the Impossible Burger originally achieved its taste by using heme protein isolated from cow blood, but it looks like that's now done by expressing and purifying soy leghemoglobin in a yeast expression system, so I'm not sure what bifrost is referring to.
- jimktrains2 8y agoThe grill it's cooked on also cooks meat patties. Some people do not like any contamination in their food. When I became vegetarian I thought about this a lot but came to the conclusion that if I ever wanted to go out with friends that it's something I'll have to accept. You'd be surprised at the number of places that use chicken broth in otherwise vegetarian fare as well. It's a compromise, but one I'm willing to accept; some people are not.
- bifrost 8y agoI'm def not in the camp of being PO'ed by that but I understand why some people are. One thing I learned long ago was that there were "dieters" and "ethical vegans" and only sometimes did they overlap. The availability of the IB is great for dieters which increases demand and thus eventually the "ethical" population is served.
- bifrost 8y agoI'm referring to the process of cooking it. They don't separate the food and you get cross-contact with meat and dairy proteins - making it non-vegetarian and definately not vegan. This is basically all marketing driven (which is fine) but its not animal-product free, which is what normal people think when they see "plant based" food.
- noselasd 8y agoHow much of an "impossible" 150g burger are we talking about here that contains animal meat ? 10% ? 50% ?
- GordonS 8y agoIn a cross-contamination scenario as described, it's going to be trace amounts only.
- noselasd 8y agoSo it's a meatless burger that might have been in contact with meat or been in contact with a surface that has been in contact with meet ? And this upsets people to the point the entire product is dismissed and labelled a lie ? No wonder the world is not at peace.
- bifrost 8y agoPeople don't like being lied to.
- noselasd 8y agoHow is it a lie ? Where is this line drawn ? After all farmers like to fertilize fields using manure from animals - which ends up in the plants. Animals breathe and exhale CO2, which plants might take up. Plants might have been in contact with or partially eaten by birds, butterflies, deer etc. "contaminating" the plant we later eat, but this does not seem to bother people.
- Mediterraneo10 8y agoIndeed, unless Burger King is using a completely separate grill for the vegetable burgers, some vegetarians/vegans are going to be upset that their vegetable patty was prepared where meat was and possibly exposed to meat, and there could be kosher/halal issues.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Consultant32452 8y agoI think the people who are concerned with this are familiar with how food is made at restaurants. For example, I worked at a pizza shop in high school and occasionally someone would request we wash our pizza cutter so that their veggie pizza would not be contaminated with meat from previous pizzas. We, of course, accommodated their request without issue. But I worked there for years and saw this request maybe 2-3 times. And that may have been the same customer. The people who take that level of constraint are a tiny, tiny fraction of the already smallish customer base seeking meatless/vegetarian food.
- goda90 8y agoThose people aren't the target audience. It's to get meat eaters to be willing to replace meat in their diet.
- JohnFen 8y agoI may be wrong, but I don't think BK is advertising these as vegan or even vegetarian. They appear to be very careful to say "meatless" instead, which is not inaccurate. They're certainly not advertising them as kosher/halal.
- bifrost 8y agoI wonder if this will turn into a "food weaselwords" debate with the FTC. Its basically going to take a concerted study and some food-lab time.
- deleted 8y ago
- LeoPanthera 8y agoAs long as it's described as "meatless" and not "vegan", it's not misleading. It's still vegetarian.
- bifrost 8y agoNot if it has meat juice on it due to how its prepared. I realize some people are willing to be handwavey about it...
- kjaftaedi 8y agoImagine being so picky that you're willing to hold back society's progress about an issue that you care about, for no other reason than waiting for perfection. I get your argument, but you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
- saagarjha 8y agoNote that this can a religious concern for some people.
- vinay427 8y agoIt's not about being handwavey. I am vegan and in my experience, most vegans for ethical reasons have no reason to be concerned about cross-contamination because they're not purchasing an animal product. I care about not supporting the use of animals, and purchasing an animal product is the actual factor that contributes to this. Frequenting an establishment that profits off of animal products is, of course, a valid issue but that's different than meat juice contamination.
- goda90 8y agoThe goal of Impossible Burger is to get meat eaters to replace meat in their diet with something more sustainable. It's not about vegan/vegetarian purism.
- standardUser 8y agoI imagine some people are also hand-wavey about the inevitable insect meat they consume in their otherwise vegetarian or vegan diet, or the countless small animals killed in the production of those foods. We all have to draw our lines somewhere I suppose, but let's be realistic about it. Consuming a few specs of beef juice on a vegetarian sandwich is not the same as purchasing or eating meat.
- mhandley 8y agoAre vegetarians the target for this? I wouldn't have thought you'd find too many of them in Burger King. I'm not a vegetarian, and do like a burger occasionally. On those rare occasions (usually on long journeys) when I do go to Burger King, if there's a good tasting beef alternative that's easier on the environment than beef, why not.
- hvs 8y agoIt's still vegetarian, just maybe not vegan.
- mhandley 8y agoAgreed - wasn't disputing that. All I was saying was that maybe us meat eaters who want to be slightly more healthy and slightly better for the environment are actually the target market.
- cannonedhamster 8y agoI think you're correct here. I had an impossible burger, but I can say pretty clearly every person who is a meat eater regularly has found it more pleasing than long time vegetarians. I personally enjoy the Beyond Meat Patty more. Anecdotal evidence is only just that, but it's been a trend I've seen. Personally I hope this becomes a big success and people really enjoy it, even if it's not my thing.
- hkyeti 8y agoThe majority of vegans enjoy the meat taste and the new crop of substitutes, just not the ethical/environmental costs. Source- polled my vegan group.
- greglindahl 8y agoI know a lot of vegetarians and vegans who don't want anything to do with something that's like meat, so perhaps your anecdote and my anecdote add up to advice to not claim either of us knows what a majority of vegans want? As an example of this issue in action, if you're taking your company out for food, it's a huge mistake to go to a place that only offers meat-like stuff for vegetarians and vegans.
- pdabbadabba 8y agoI don't see how this follows. An "animal product" is not the same thing as "meat." Meat is just one type of animal product to which people commonly have special objections. That is why the burger is accurately described as "meatless" and not "vegan."
- Skunkleton 8y agoI am not vegetarian, but I have plenty of friends who are for a wide array of reasons (moral, religious, environmental). This burger has come up with a few of them, and so far they are just happy that there is vegetarian option. They see it as important that a company like BK is offering a progressive vegetarian option. Not one of them has complained that there is a miniscule amount of non-vegetarian contamination. Of course I see why some would complain, and it is important that there are always people pushing for progress. But lets not pretend that _this_ isn't progress.
- ryandvm 8y agoNot sure I agree with you. As a "meatless" burger, it is _exactly_ what I had in mind. I'm not particularly interested in an entirely autotrophic diet.