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Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

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Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#121
post #90

I'm curious as to how Impossible burger compares on the health impact. I understand that it's plant based, but it seems to be highly processed and perhaps (not sure) loaded with bunch of chemicals and potentially unhealthy ingredients that make it taste like meat. Hopefully that is not the case and it's not just a meat substitute but is also healthy. Can anyone with more details please opine?

Nutrition facts: https://faq.impossiblefoods.com/hc/en-us/articles/3600189392... Ingredients: https://faq.impossiblefoods.com/hc/en-us/articles/3600189374... Saturated fat numbers don't look great. Also, TONS of salt which isn't great either. sigh oh well, maybe some day.

I'm curious, what would you consider an appropriate food? I personally look for high fat/protein when picking my food, and the there isn't much reason to believe salt is bad for you.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#122
post #90

I'm curious as to how Impossible burger compares on the health impact. I understand that it's plant based, but it seems to be highly processed and perhaps (not sure) loaded with bunch of chemicals and potentially unhealthy ingredients that make it taste like meat. Hopefully that is not the case and it's not just a meat substitute but is also healthy. Can anyone with more details please opine?

What makes you think "processed" and "chemicals" are bad for you?

Everything is a chemical.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#123
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fats and oils have cholesterol. It's generally healthier types and lower amounts than meat sources though. It's not always zero.

Calling out the cholesterol is kind of a distraction, because it is no longer what is associated with heart disease. The level of saturated fat in the impossible burger is actually very high. Impossible Burger, for example, has more than double the saturated fat of an 85% lean beef burger: 3.6 grams per ounce (derived from coconut oil) versus 1.7. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/great-veggie-burger-debate-... I know…

> The level of saturated fat in the impossible burger is actually very high.

Also high in sodium, which is part of the reason why it's so yummy (to some)

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#124
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"First: The vegetarians that I know don't like meat." Hi, nice to meet you! Vegan for almost a decade, the smell of a burger on the grill in the summer gives me hella cravings. We exist. "Second: When I tasted an Impossible Burger, it was awful. It tasted like a horrible veggie burger." I'm jealous, you must not have ever eaten a truly horrible veggie burger. I had a Gardenburger in like 2005 that literally tasted li…

The cravings are probably a sign that you are missing something essential that is in the burger. It tastes good because it is nutritious. I would eat a burger occasionally to stay healthy.

No, it doesn't taste (or smell) good because it's nutritious. The cravings are a psychological reflex of remembering something you liked the taste, nutritious or not.

There's people who doesn't consider charring meat having a good odour, and that doesn't make it less nutritious. There's super tasty things which are horribly un-nutritional, or even poisonous. That goes both for smell and taste.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#125
post #4

Is it really better to make something "like" a meat product instead of just making a good vegan/vegetarian product? Since going lacto-ovo vegetarian myself, I just want tasty food, doesn't matter if it's "like" a meat product.

They allow vegetarians to utilize hundreds of years of meat-based recipes with a simple substitution. Instead of your whole diet changing, you can just swap some ingredients.

For the same reason, they're great for restaurants to retrofit their menus to be veg friendly.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#126
post #37

I'll 100% be giving it a try (I'm already a long time vegetarian though). I like that it's BK doing this because BK has served a veggie burger (Morningstar Farms Patty) for around ~14 years, so they should be familiar with the demand for meatless products. I remember when they first introduced a veggie burger, I wasn't sure the demand would be there, but it seems to have worked out. So it remains to be seen if they'l…

I pretty much hate fast food (as opposed to fast casual) burgers in general so I won't be eating this. But I have (in fact, unknowingly--don't ask) had an impossible burger in a good burger place and I actually didn't learn it wasn't meat until a few months later. It tasted like a perfectly good burger to me.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nutrition facts: https://faq.impossiblefoods.com/hc/en-us/articles/3600189392... Ingredients: https://faq.impossiblefoods.com/hc/en-us/articles/3600189374... Saturated fat numbers don't look great. Also, TONS of salt which isn't great either. sigh oh well, maybe some day.

I'm curious, what would you consider an appropriate food? I personally look for high fat/protein when picking my food, and the there isn't much reason to believe salt is bad for you.

My diet is specifically about reducing inflammation. Low sugar, low salt, mostly plant based. There is much reason to believe salt is bad for you.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#128
post #28

I really hope McDonalds adds a veggie burger to their menu soon, too. I try to avoid meat, but often end up eating it in fast food for the convenience and due to a lack of alternatives.

Where are you? There’s a full vegetarian menu in Sweden: https://www.mcdonalds.com/se/sv-se/hela-menyn/vegetariskt.ht...

That looks pretty good. They should serve this in America.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#129
post #90

I'm curious as to how Impossible burger compares on the health impact. I understand that it's plant based, but it seems to be highly processed and perhaps (not sure) loaded with bunch of chemicals and potentially unhealthy ingredients that make it taste like meat. Hopefully that is not the case and it's not just a meat substitute but is also healthy. Can anyone with more details please opine?

> loaded with bunch of chemicals and potentially unhealthy ingredients that make it taste like meat

I never understood why one would want to make a veggie burger taste like meat. Properly made veggie burgers taste delicious by them selves. Much more flavour than the meat versions.

But those are probably already on the menu and this is an addition to regular vegetarian burgers? Here in Norway we've had vegan burgers from both mcdonalds and burger king and max hamburgare (swedish company) for a couple years that do not taste like meat and especially burger kings' score high on the taste tests [1].

Personally I never eat fast food except a kebab once every two months but we do make vegetarian burgers maybe every other week here at home [2].

[1] https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&u=https%3...

[2] https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&u=https%3...

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#130
post #97

People should be aware that Burger King has had (MorningStar) veggie burgers for a very long time that they just don't broadcast. This announcement is not about introducing a vegetarian patty but rather about introducing a _specific_ vegetarian patty.

FYI there looks to be less saturated fat, and sodium in a MorningStar burger compared with the Impossible. * http://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/Product/Index/00028989100689

But it tastes like a patty of vegetables instead of a mock meat burger. Not really even the same category.
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