BK Impossible Whoppers May Have Meat in Them

As Burger King rolls out the Impossible Whopper at locations nationwide, you may not be completely in the clear to eat them if you're a vegetarian like me.

While Impossible Burgers famously include no meat, and are delicious, hard-core vegetarians might think twice about eating an Impossible Whopper at Burger King because there's still one pretty big problem.

That's because these burgers are cooked on the same grill as the restaurant's regular patties, making the prospects for cross-contamination pretty likely. At other fast food options with the Impossible patty, both White Castle and Tim Hortons store and cook their meatless products separately from those with meat. White Castle vice president Jamie Richardson tells Ad Age they do this "out of respect for those who are seeking a vegetarian experience." I truly appreciate that! I ate an Impossible Slider at a White Castle over the weekend in Chicago and thought it was delicious! I'd never tried White Castle before and I really appreciate that they cook it on a separate grill.

Meanwhile, PETA campaign director Ashley Byrne strikes a surprisingly relaxed stance when it comes to Burger King's cooking methods, saying, "We think that these benefits really override any concerns about cross-contamination—obviously if someone has an allergy or intolerance, that’s different.”

So, will I still get the Impossible Whopper at BK once it's available here, even thought it's cooked on the same meat grill? Likely. But it will definitely be in my mind that there could be some meat in/on it.