A class action lawsuit has been filed against Burger King after a group of vegans found issue with the vegan burgers being cooked on meat-smeared grills, according to TMZ.
Phillip Williams filed the lawsuit Monday, according to court documents obtained by TMZ, and he claims the vegan burger he purchased at an undisclosed Atlanta location was contaminated by meat byproduct. The lawsuit reportedly states the fast food giant is falsely advertising its burgers as a vegan option.
Williams is requesting damages and that the burger chain uphold a moratorium on cooking the Impossible Whoppers on the same grills as meat, TMZ reported.
Controversy about the cooking standards for the wildly popular Impossible Whoppers was sparked in August, when Burger King first began the nationwide rollout of the sandwiches. At the time, online pundits began outing Burger King for cooking the vegan alternative sandwiches on the same grill as chicken and beef.
Customers can request their Impossible Burgers be grilled on a different broiler than meat, according to a CNBC report in August. Some vegan and vegetarians at the time said they were not aware that was an option.
The plant-based vegan patty — made of water, plant proteins, coconut oil and heme, a natural molecule that gives burgers their distinctive taste and is found in plants — is designed to look and taste like a traditional red meat burger, the AJC reported in 2017. California-based Impossible Foods has received more than $250 million in financial backing from Bill Gates, venture fund Temasek and several other businesses and celebrities.
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