A vegan is suing Burger King because its plant-based Impossible Whopper, which it began serving nationwide three months ago, is “contaminated” because the burger is cooked on the same grill as beef burgers.
Plaintiff Phillip Williams says he bought an Impossible Whopper at a Burger King in Atlanta, Ga., believing it to be completely meat-free. Williams, who adheres to a strict vegan diet, ordered the Impossible Whopper — without mayonnaise, which is not vegan — from Burger King’s drive-through in August 2019. While the burger arrived without mayonnaise as requested, Williams says he discovered after eating it that the patty was covered in meat by-products. He accuses Burger King of cooking the meat-free patties on the same grill where beef patties are made and of misleading customers by marketing the Impossible Whopper as a meat-free menu item.
“Despite Burger King’s representations that the Impossible Whopper uses the trademarked ‘Impossible Meat’ that is well-known as a meat-free and vegan meat alternative, Burger King cooks these vegan patties on the same grills as its traditional meat products, thus covering the outside of the Impossible Whopper’s meat-free patties with meat by-product,” the lawsuit says. The suit against the Miami-based fast-food chain was filed in the Southern District of Florida.
