Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
The Impossible Whopper: Your thoughts on plant-based burgers?
Replies
-
JohnnytotheB wrote: »Plant based burgers - depending on the brand - are great! I always purchase the Beyond Meat burgers. They have the taste & texture of the meat equivalent. I never had the Impossible patty but if they are like the Beyond Meat brand you are giving up nothing versus the meat burger. From a cost standpoint, it's roughly the same with quality meats.
I made Beyond Meat veggie burgers once, I had to double check to make sure I didn't screw up and buy actual meat. They bleed in the pan as you cook them.
Their chicken strips manner fantastic tacos.5 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I know you asked for the opinions of meat eaters, but I wanted to answer this question from a few different angles.
As a vegetarian, the option of being able to get something on the go appeals to me.
As a person with celiac disease? I'm still out in left field. Impossible Burgers have gluten in them and I can't eat them.
I'm aware that getting gluten free fast food, even vegetarian options, isn't really that hard in other countries. Many of the chains we have here in America have gluten free buns and dedicated grill space in their European counterparts. Thanks to EU food laws, their fries don't have flavoring additives that contain gluten (I'm looking at you, McDonald's) and they cook them in dedicated fryers.
There are already gluten free vegetarian patties available in some chains.
I don't know why it's easy for these chains to accommodate these issues overseas, and not here in the States.
They redid their formula back in January. The new impossible burger recipe is gluten free. Whether Burger King could prepare it that way is another thing, but the new version of the patty is.
That's awesome. I'll have to look for a restaurant that has it.1 -
-
I have no problem eating veggie versions of meat, and like to experiment. Unfortunately most meat substitutes (Linda McCartney etc) are high in fat and calories so I may as well eat meaty stuff. Its nice to try new things though so if I ever pass a BK (there isn't one near me) I may give it a go.0
-
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I know you asked for the opinions of meat eaters, but I wanted to answer this question from a few different angles.
As a vegetarian, the option of being able to get something on the go appeals to me.
As a person with celiac disease? I'm still out in left field. Impossible Burgers have gluten in them and I can't eat them.
I'm aware that getting gluten free fast food, even vegetarian options, isn't really that hard in other countries. Many of the chains we have here in America have gluten free buns and dedicated grill space in their European counterparts. Thanks to EU food laws, their fries don't have flavoring additives that contain gluten (I'm looking at you, McDonald's) and they cook them in dedicated fryers.
There are already gluten free vegetarian patties available in some chains.
I don't know why it's easy for these chains to accommodate these issues overseas, and not here in the States.
Unfortunately I'm guessing it's a cost/demand thing.1 -
shandy82165 wrote: »I would be tempted but the impossible burger has 6 times the amount of sodium that regular beef does. Eating fast food is already a big sodium hit for someone with salt sensitivity so it's a no for me. Too bad because i'd totally try it otherwise.
Yup. They just trade off meat for vegetarian and try to draw more customers. A&W in Canada is doing the same thing. They offer both a burger and a breakfast sandwich that are "meatless".
The big problem is, in order for it to taste "good" it is loaded with sodium (an 8oz patty has almost 800mg of sodium) and it contains 3 different types of oils (Canola, Coconut and Sunflower). When you add the bun, the cheese or sauce and any other condiment, the sodium levels climb to over 1000mg for one burger. The WHO recommends 1500-2300mg of sodium per day. That veggie burger uses up almost half your daily requirement.
Clearly you aren't grabbing fast food for the protein content, you are doing so for convenience or that you are a vegetarian looking to try something new.
In a nutshell they are really no healthier that a regular fast food burger per se, just another gimmick to try to entice a new population of fast food eaters....
P.S. the quote I used was only to point out the sodium...but it doesn't contain 6 times the amount of a regular fast food whopper. I'd suggest that Shandy81265 is comparing a processed patty to raw ground beef.1 -
Honestly, for the vast majority of people, worrying about the amount of sodium you consume on one day is a rather pointless exercise. If you have an overall healthy diet and eat mostly whole foods cooked at home (which is the easiest way to avoid excess sodium, if you don't abuse the salt shaker), and especially if you eat a good amount of potassium and exercise, then sodium is not an issue, and an occasional fast food (or other restaurant meal) isn't going to change that.
I'm not a fan of most fast food burgers (the meat quality doesn't taste great to me and they normally taste too salty), so I'm not planning to make any fast food option a big staple of my diet, but there are times I want a non meat option when on a road trip or what not and I'm curious how this would taste.
I think the idea that ever consuming something less than nutritionally ideal is somehow going to ruin your health or must be avoided is a little over the top.
If there was a misunderstanding that people were claiming that no meat = super nutritious or low cal or low sodium or what not, I didn't see that, and it would be a silly thing to think. The original piece compared it to a standard whopper.7 -
I actually don't mind plant based burgers. Most are pretty tasty. My only issue is that it's hard to find ones that aren't soy based. I'm sensitive to soy and try to limit it, so I have to read the labels if I'm going with a veggie patty.0
-
I've made faux-Whoppers at home in the past with Boca Burgers. My feeling is, once you load something up with ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles, & onions, tomatoes, and lettuce, it ceases to matter what's underneath it... you pretty much only taste the toppings. So I wouldn't be adverse to a meatless burger at all, particularly if it slashed fat, which I'm sensitive to.
That being said, I came across this line in the article I read about it and it's created a mental block I just can't get past:
"A genetically modified yeast creates the key ingredient, called heme, which makes the patties appear to bleed and taste like real meat."
1 -
no thanks.1
-
If it comes to my area, I'd try it out of curiosity, but I'm pretty skeptical of it actually tasting like the regular whopper. I've been told that about lots of meat substitutes, and nothing I've tried has tasted "just like" whatever it's supposed to taste like or even tasted good to me.
If they aren't able to get the price down to the same price as the regular whopper, that first try out of curiosity would almost definitely be the last for me unless the calorie difference was a LOT more significant than 50 calories less.
Even if the price were the same, at only 50 calories less then the real thing, I'm going to go for real meat. Not that I'm opposed to processed or "fake" food, but given everything else being equal I'd just get the regular burger.
If it actually tasted and cost the same and had say half the calories, I might get it a lot more often.0 -
I don't think they're introducing the impossible burger in the hope that people will order it instead of meat, it seems more directed at expanding their market share by appealing to vegetarian potential customers who might be enticed by tasty food they can eat.
As for myself, no I wouldn't switch, I prefer meat, and it's a moot point anyway because like GottaBurnEmAll I have celiac disease and can't eat there in any case.
Speaking as a long-term vegetarian (nearly 45 years), something that tastes like beef is not, to me, "tasty food". I know other veggies will differ, but if I really deeply enjoyed meat, I'd still be eating it. (I see no moral failure in meat-eating. I was married to hunter for decades - now widowed, not divorced
).
If this burger has a good protein to calorie ratio, I'd consider eating it when traveling. (I often travel with a self-described "meatatarian", fast-food-centric, kinda overbearing friend - she drives, and runs the trip; I let her, because it's easier and calmer that way. She once got irritated with me because I used the phrase "crappy fast food".). But, for personal taste, I'd rather have honest food that tastes like itself, not fake anything. In the fast food realm, I prefer Taco Bell, Subway (salads), or Wendy's baked potatoes/salads.
Fake meat, to me, is yucky. I took a sample of "vegan chicken tenders" at Costco recently, because why not? It tasted like chicken. Yuck. (To me. You be you, I'll be me. :flowerforyou: ).
If BK is going for the "serious vegetarian" market here, for my taste they're missing the boat. JMO, though.
I like fast food, and even I call it crappy- because it is!
As for the plant based Whopper, sure, if it tastes good I'll eat it. I do have to wonder about the chemicals it's processed with though. A lot of the fake meats have scary looking ingredient lists.3 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I know you asked for the opinions of meat eaters, but I wanted to answer this question from a few different angles.
As a vegetarian, the option of being able to get something on the go appeals to me.
As a person with celiac disease? I'm still out in left field. Impossible Burgers have gluten in them and I can't eat them.
I'm aware that getting gluten free fast food, even vegetarian options, isn't really that hard in other countries. Many of the chains we have here in America have gluten free buns and dedicated grill space in their European counterparts. Thanks to EU food laws, their fries don't have flavoring additives that contain gluten (I'm looking at you, McDonald's) and they cook them in dedicated fryers.
There are already gluten free vegetarian patties available in some chains.
I don't know why it's easy for these chains to accommodate these issues overseas, and not here in the States.
Unfortunately I'm guessing it's a cost/demand thing.
I really want to go to India sometime to try their McD- it's so different because of the lack of beef!0 -
I think it is a step in the right direction to get people to think about the foods they are consuming, however its still a Whopper and if it has cheese and mayo then it will be just as unhealthy as the beef based product they currently have.8
-
I think it is a step in the right direction to get people to think about the foods they are consuming, however its still a Whopper and if it has cheese and mayo then it will be just as unhealthy as the beef based product they currently have.
I don't think Whoppers have cheese, but even if they did, there's nothing inherently unhealthy about that. Just ups the calories, which may or may not fit in with a person's goals.5 -
I think it is a step in the right direction to get people to think about the foods they are consuming, however its still a Whopper and if it has cheese and mayo then it will be just as unhealthy as the beef based product they currently have.
I don't think Whoppers have cheese, but even if they did, there's nothing inherently unhealthy about that. Just ups the calories, which may or may not fit in with a person's goals.
Cheese is saturated fat which contributes to elevated cholesterol and heart disease. Yes there is something inherently unhealthy about that.20 -
I think it is a step in the right direction to get people to think about the foods they are consuming, however its still a Whopper and if it has cheese and mayo then it will be just as unhealthy as the beef based product they currently have.
I don't think Whoppers have cheese, but even if they did, there's nothing inherently unhealthy about that. Just ups the calories, which may or may not fit in with a person's goals.
Cheese is saturated fat which contributes to elevated cholesterol and heart disease. Yes there is something inherently unhealthy about that.
Guess I won't have that big block of cheese I was planning on for lunch
(BTW, I didn't "woo" you- I hate the woo button.)2 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I know you asked for the opinions of meat eaters, but I wanted to answer this question from a few different angles.
As a vegetarian, the option of being able to get something on the go appeals to me.
As a person with celiac disease? I'm still out in left field. Impossible Burgers have gluten in them and I can't eat them.
I'm aware that getting gluten free fast food, even vegetarian options, isn't really that hard in other countries. Many of the chains we have here in America have gluten free buns and dedicated grill space in their European counterparts. Thanks to EU food laws, their fries don't have flavoring additives that contain gluten (I'm looking at you, McDonald's) and they cook them in dedicated fryers.
There are already gluten free vegetarian patties available in some chains.
I don't know why it's easy for these chains to accommodate these issues overseas, and not here in the States.
They redid their formula back in January. The new impossible burger recipe is gluten free. Whether Burger King could prepare it that way is another thing, but the new version of the patty is.
That's awesome. I'll have to look for a restaurant that has it.
As a note make sure to check if the restaurant is using the new recipe or not. I know they were going through some sort of phase in period, and I am not sure if that is completed at all restaurants or not. I would assume they would know about their specific restaurant, but I believe you can also check on the impossible website to see which version a restaurant is using.0 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I know you asked for the opinions of meat eaters, but I wanted to answer this question from a few different angles.
As a vegetarian, the option of being able to get something on the go appeals to me.
As a person with celiac disease? I'm still out in left field. Impossible Burgers have gluten in them and I can't eat them.
I'm aware that getting gluten free fast food, even vegetarian options, isn't really that hard in other countries. Many of the chains we have here in America have gluten free buns and dedicated grill space in their European counterparts. Thanks to EU food laws, their fries don't have flavoring additives that contain gluten (I'm looking at you, McDonald's) and they cook them in dedicated fryers.
There are already gluten free vegetarian patties available in some chains.
I don't know why it's easy for these chains to accommodate these issues overseas, and not here in the States.
They redid their formula back in January. The new impossible burger recipe is gluten free. Whether Burger King could prepare it that way is another thing, but the new version of the patty is.
That's awesome. I'll have to look for a restaurant that has it.
As a note make sure to check if the restaurant is using the new recipe or not. I know they were going through some sort of phase in period, and I am not sure if that is completed at all restaurants or not. I would assume they would know about their specific restaurant, but I believe you can also check on the impossible website to see which version a restaurant is using.
The article I read dated yesterday said they were only rolling it out in St. Louis area locations.0 -
I think it is a step in the right direction to get people to think about the foods they are consuming, however its still a Whopper and if it has cheese and mayo then it will be just as unhealthy as the beef based product they currently have.
I don't think Whoppers have cheese, but even if they did, there's nothing inherently unhealthy about that. Just ups the calories, which may or may not fit in with a person's goals.
Cheese is saturated fat which contributes to elevated cholesterol and heart disease. Yes there is something inherently unhealthy about that.
Newer research has muddied the water somewhat on the link between saturated fats and cholesterol and heart disease. The link is not as clear cut as once thought. Even if you accept that saturated fats are a contributing factor to these conditions, it is when consumed in excess, not in moderate intake. So in that case, the saturated fats from cheese would only be an issue if they are contributing to a high saturated fat diet, not in and of themselves. Cheese also has protein, calcium, and a host of other vitamins and minerals. It can be a healthy part of a diet. It is certainly not inherently unhealthy.11
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 901 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions