Burger King’s Impossible Whopper has divided opinion among vegans after it was revealed the new plant-based patty will be grilled on the same surface as the meat version.

The fast food giant has announced the Impossible Foods burger will be rolled out to all 7,200 US sites this week.

The patty is made primarily from wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein and heme – giving it a meaty taste and texture.

But the small print on the company’s website reveals the patties are grilled on the same surface as the meat version. 

An initial trial in St Louis was a raging success, where the plant-based option outsold national averages by 18.5%.

Earlier this year vegans questioned whether the patty would be cooked on the same grill as the meat version.

Impossible Foods responded: “The Impossible™ Whopper® is flame-grilled on a surface shared with conventional meat. Please check with a participating Burger King® restaurant to confirm if any requests for an alternate preparation can be accommodated.”

Some vegans were disappointed with the news, and said they would never buy the burger.

But others are less bothered, arguing that the burger does not cause any animal to suffer. 

But the Impossible Whopper is not aimed solely at vegans and vegetarians.

Chris Finazzo, president of Burger King North America, said in an interview he started thinking about adding the burger a year ago after discovering the rapid rise of flexitarianism. 

According to NPD Group, 95% of shoppers who bought a plant-based burger have bought a beef burger within the last year. 

The Impossible Whopper contains 17g of protein and has zero cholesterol, and Impossible Foods says the meat alternative ‘delivers the rich, beefy taste that discerning meat lovers demand with as much bio-available iron and high-quality protein as a comparable serving of ground beef from cows’.

Impossible Foods was recently valued at more than $2bn and has celebrity backing from the likes of Jay-Z, Serena Williams and Will.i.am.

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Would you try the Impossible Whopper? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Oli Gross

Oli’s career and personal ethical values both help shape his reporting of the diverse world of veganism. His background is in local newspaper and magazine journalism, and his work has included reporting court cases, celebrity interviews, business analysis, food and drink features and government legislation.

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