Burger King will launch its meat-free 'Impossible Whoppers' nationwide by the end of 2019

[Polycount]

As we reported earlier this month, Burger King has been market testing its meat-free "Impossible Whoppers" for several weeks now. The burgers, for the unaware, are made entirely from plants, and the patties are being sold to various burger joints by Impossible Foods; a start-up who hopes to lead a meat-free revolution.

Apparently, Burger King's market testing went pretty well. The company's Chief Marketing Officer Fernando Machado said that even his own team -- who know the Whopper "inside and out" -- "struggle to differentiate" between the Impossible Whopper and the regular Whopper made from meat. Outside of the top brass, low-level employees and customers had similar feelings.

Now, reports claim that Burger King is planning to roll out the Impossible Whopper nationwide by the end of 2019, which will likely lead to a pretty significant publicity boost for Impossible Foods - Burger King is no small fast food chain, after all. However, it is worth noting that Burger King won't be the first company to adopt Impossible Foods' meat across its stores; White Castle claims that honor.

In terms of alleged health benefits, the Impossible Whopper boasts "15 percent less fat" and "90 percent" less cholesterol than a traditional Whopper.

This news will likely be exciting for prospective vegans who aren't eager to give up their Burger King habit, but the company hasn't announced a specific nationwide launch date for the Impossible Whopper just yet.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/79861-burger-king-launch-meat-free-impossible-whoppers-nationwide.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Looks interesting but let's see how it tastes. Also, will it have that "flame broiled" chemical flavoring they add because we know they sure arn't going to put back the old grills that made them famous in the early days! Dad Gum It!

 

[EEatGDL]

How can you be a Whopper-lover vegan?

 

[antiproduct]

How can you be a Whopper-lover vegan?

Most vegans haven't been vegan for their whole life. So they could have formerly been a whopper lover, but now aren't (but maybe will be again?).

 

[thewind]

I've actually had the pleasure of trying this. And while I have to say I CAN taste a difference, it is very very close way closer than the beyond buger if anyone has tried that. and if I was in a rush and wasn't trying to pay attention to the exact taste I honestly probably wouldn't of even noticed the difference. Since most meat in fast food places are not grass fed and are very poor quality (definitely not USDA grade) I'm actually really excited to have this roll out everywhere cuz after eating 2 of them at once I felt a lot better afterwards than normally when I eat fast food. So thank you Buger King!

 

[mailpup]

The company's Chief Marketing Officer Fernando Machado said that even his own team -- who know the Whopper "inside and out" -- "struggle to differentiate" between the Impossible Whopper and the regular Whopper made from meat.

That might be a sad commentary about the taste of the regular Whopper.

 

[treetops]

Looks interesting but let's see how it tastes. Also, will it have that "flame broiled" chemical flavoring they add because we know they sure arn't going to put back the old grills that made them famous in the early days! Dad Gum It!

They still use flames, but it's a broiler. Just a conveyor type belt with flames under it. Pizza hut has similiar conveyor oven. I've yet to meet a no name burger joint with a real grill that doesn't beat out all the top chains.

I've actually had the pleasure of trying this. And while I have to say I CAN taste a difference, it is very very close way closer than the beyond buger if anyone has tried that. and if I was in a rush and wasn't trying to pay attention to the exact taste I honestly probably wouldn't of even noticed the difference. Since most meat in fast food places are not grass fed and are very poor quality (definitely not USDA grade) I'm actually really excited to have this roll out everywhere cuz after eating 2 of them at once I felt a lot better afterwards than normally when I eat fast food. So thank you Buger King!

Yeah I wont miss the mcnappy\diarrhea fast food effect.

 

[Paulos7]

I've been a vegetarian (not a vegan) for 30 years, and I have tried the Beyond burger simply out of curiosity. Though it tasted pretty good, it wasn't a "brings back memories" moment. If these "burgers" taste so much like the real thing, my concern as a vegetarian would be "how do I know I'm getting the Impossible Whopper, and not the Whopper"? I mean, these things are made to not only taste like the real thing, but to look like the real thing. Everyone has heard the stories of the things that some fast food workers do to the food they prepare, so IMO this is just a prank waiting to happen.

 

[sdms96825]

I've actually had the pleasure of trying this. And while I have to say I CAN taste a difference, it is very very close way closer than the beyond buger if anyone has tried that. and if I was in a rush and wasn't trying to pay attention to the exact taste I honestly probably wouldn't of even noticed the difference. Since most meat in fast food places are not grass fed and are very poor quality (definitely not USDA grade) I'm actually really excited to have this roll out everywhere cuz after eating 2 of them at once I felt a lot better afterwards than normally when I eat fast food. So thank you Buger King!

Thank you for this. It is exactly the kind of comment I was looking for.

 

[imdarkbreeze]

How does this even have ANYTHING at all to do with technology, in ANY way that we as enthusiasts would care about? I can't express how much I miss the days when tech sites ACTUALLY only ran stories and reviews of technology and specifically, computer hardware and related tech. If I want to read about what Burger king is doing next, I'm sure I can find it on CNN or ANY non-tech news site out there.

Let's get back to reviewing things and covering stories that relate to the same of this site shall we? No wonder the hardware manufacturers don't send out as much in the way of review samples anymore. I'll bet Burger king would be happy to send you some of THEIR samples if you keep running stories like this, but I assure, I won't be reading them. I can't even run to HardOCP anymore for what was at least MOSTLY tech related, so maybe Techspot could try to fill that gap somewhat by actually finding some hardware to review or a technology interest piece to run in place of burgers, that aren't.

I imagine there are vegetarian/vegan websites out there that are running this story, and maybe those looking for that information should visit there instead? I'm sure those sites aren't running stories about computer hardware, because they know what and who they are.

 

[yeeeeman]

Given the fact that the normal burger already uses ****-grade meat, it is not surprising to me at all that this leaves-made meat tastes the same. I am really sorry for the American people, because this kind of food is like a drug. Gets you fat, gives you nothing but chemicals and makes you ill. You deserve to taste again real meat. From a chicken raised on the ground, fed only with corn and natural stuff. You can't imagine how tasty it is to eat such a chicken, raised in a few months, not a in a few weeks with lots of chemicals, drugs in an extremely small space.

 

[xxLCxx]

This will be coming and you will likely even get it when ordering a meat burger. The reason is simple: This can be soooooo much cheaper (for Burger Kong)!
It still isn't for vegans, though. Think of all the trash that comes with it. Just a big no to Bugger King and all the other "artificial food" factories.

 

[amghwk]

What is a news of about food doing in Techspot?

Who's in charge here of seeing what articles are published on a tech site?

 

[captaincranky]

What is a news of about food doing in Techspot?

Who's in charge here of seeing what articles are published on a tech site?

Well, you know what they say, "if you want anything done right, do it yourself".

Not that I personally think you've been here long enough to start dictating what gets printed and what doesn't, but you can always contact @Julio Franco and tell him what a great tech writer you think you'd make.

We need more AMD fanboy material. We need more PUBG material. The fights between AMD followers and Intel users never gets boring.

The crap from all the all the big time gamers about how sick and tired they are of spending money on "micro-transactions", is starting to get old. "We have to pay to win" (cue sobbing and violins in the background).

Since I"m sure you "build" your own PCs, why not "build" you own "Whoppers"?

Make sure to "customize it" For example, try combining meat from a Clydesdale and a jacka**... Yum!

 

[amghwk]

Well, you know what they say, "if you want anything done right, do it yourself".

Not that I personally think you've been here long enough to start dictating what gets printed and what doesn't, but you can always contact @Julio Franco and tell him what a great tech writer you think you'd make.

We need more AMD fanboy material. We need more PUBG material. The fights between AMD followers and Intel users never gets boring.

The crap from all the all the big time gamers about how sick and tired they are of spending money on "micro-transactions", is starting to get old. "We have to pay to win" (cue sobbing and violins in the background).

Since I"m sure you "build" your own PCs, why not "build" you own "Whoppers"?

Make sure to "customize it" For example, try combining meat from a Clydesdale and a jacka**... Yum!

Your lengthy post still doesn't answer the flagrant question.

Anyway, you don't need to be old here to point out something. If you've been old here and still can't differentiate between necessities and BS, then obviously there must be something cranky. ;p

 

[captaincranky]

Your lengthy post still doesn't answer the flagrant question.

Anyway, you don't need to be old here to point out something. If you've been old here and still can't differentiate between necessities and BS, then obviously there must be something cranky. ;p

Yeah I get it, you're right and I'm wrong, Like I said, PM Julio and tell him you can do a better job than our staff writers and stop annoying me while your at it. I provided a link, just click on it

You pointed out something YOU think is wrong, not something which actually IS wrong. .

Whereas I've been sitting around here for years waiting to do a few horse meat jokes.

Not enough tech here to suit you...?

Try here: https://www.anandtech.com

Or here: https://forums.tomshardware.com

Or here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/

Or here: https://www.cnet.com/forums/computer-help/

Now, is this about AI tech, or is it straight up a beer commercial?

 

[captaincranky]

This will be coming and you will likely even get it when ordering a meat burger. The reason is simple: This can be soooooo much cheaper (for Burger Kong)!
It still isn't for vegans, though. Think of all the trash that comes with it. Just a big no to Bugger King and all the other "artificial food" factories.

You know what I say, "man does not live by kale alone".

Fad diets being what thery are, it seems they have to be a tasteless mass of vegetable matter to be recognized as effective.

Kate Moss, the famous supermodel took it in the other direction, and maintained her slender figure and deathly pallor by snorting heroin. I think they even coined the term, "heroin chic" on her honor.

I'me sure if you're interested in finding out what this dietary regimen can do for you, the kid in the black hoodie in Burger King's parking lot can hook you up...

 

[xxLCxx]

You know what I say, "man does not live by kale alone".

You'd be surprised. It's actually the opposite way round. The big chains ("Mac Doornails" and such) want their ingredients to be AS TASTELESS AS POSSIBLE. The reason for this is rather simple. They want them to taste all the same, determinably. The "olfactory property" is therefore being applied separately (the magic sauce).

 

[ShagnWagn]

Is BK still around? Their burgers haven't tasted like real burgers for decades now anyway. They are at the bottom of the "food chain" restaurants. I refuse to eat there any more.

Isn't it odd that "vegans" try to make their veggies look like dead animal meat? lol

And yes, why is a food network article on a tech website?

 

[xxLCxx]

Isn't it odd that "vegans" try to make their veggies look like dead animal meat? lol

What in pot's name makes you think that it's vegans trying to do so?

 

[grinninglibber]

It's NOT vegan an it's NOT safe

It's not safe... "When Impossible Foods separated the modified soy leghemoglobin from the yeast after the fermentation process, 73% of what was extracted was soy leghemoglobin. 46 other proteins were discovered in that remaining 27%.
According to Dr. Michael Hansen, “These 46 proteins have not been in the human diet before but are nevertheless being presented in the Impossible Burger, with no safety assessment having been completed for the protection of consumers.” https://www.google.com/.../impossible-foods-burger.../amp

 

[jenbd]

The Impossible Burger is full of GMOs and chemicals just like everything on the Burger King menu. No thanks.

 

[SeekerJBP]

Looks interesting but let's see how it tastes. Also, will it have that "flame broiled" chemical flavoring they add because we know they sure arn't going to put back the old grills that made them famous in the early days! Dad Gum It!

It is fantastic! I have been getting it at a higher end burger place (Ford's Garage) and it is amazing!

 

[Uncle Al]

Thanks for the info, can't wait for them to get here ..... now if they only had a carb-free bun to put it on!

 

[Polycount]

Your lengthy post still doesn't answer the flagrant question.

Anyway, you don't need to be old here to point out something. If you've been old here and still can't differentiate between necessities and BS, then obviously there must be something cranky. ;p

The companies behind this food not-quite-meat are using science to turn plants into something that, by all accounts, looks, mostly tastes and feels like real meat. Pretty interesting stuff, at least in my opinion, and our readers seemed to have enjoyed it in the past. Topics that aren't strictly tech-related, but are science or culture-related, do occasionally get covered.

Appreciate the input, though. If it makes you feel any better (no sarcasm intended here), these articles are relatively rare; we've only discussed the whole "genetically engineered meat" thing a handful of times.