A vegan complained to McDonald's after finding a strip of bacon in his McPlant burger. The customer said he felt 'let down' by the fast food chain after discovering that his supposedly meat-free meal contained meat.
The 37-year-old customer from Great Barr in Birmingham, who asked not to be named, ordered two of the chain's McPlant burgers shortly after 11.30am on Wednesday (April 13). The vegan burger, made with a 'plant-based patty' co-developed with Beyond Meat, is certified by the Vegetarian Society as an ‘approved’ vegan product.
However, the customer claimed that after finishing the first burger and biting into the second, a piece of bacon fell out of it. He said he only realised what it was when he finished the McPlant and looked down in horror at the piece of meat, Birmingham Live reports.
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He said he took to the burger to staff at the Lower Parade restaurant in Sutton Coldfield, who then apologised to him for the mistake. “I didn’t even realise it was bacon to begin with. I thought it was a piece of tomato as it was pink," he said.
"The McPlants are full of salad anyway, so I didn’t really look it properly and I put it to one side and carried on eating the burger. When I realised I took it to the counter and said ‘there’s bacon in this’ and they said ‘we’re so sorry about that’. Then I complained to customer services at home and was offered a £5 off if I spend £5 voucher.”
The customer said he has been pescatarian for 11 years, eating fish but not meat, but later became a vegan and has been for just over two years.
“My concern is that the McPlant is certified vegan by the Vegetarian Society. So it shouldn’t have happened if the society’s vegan rules were followed. The food areas are supposed to be completely separate," he told Birmingham Live.
“I feel let down. The fact that the McPlant has been accredited with the vegetarian societies vegan certification was good enough for me. It’s good that McDonald’s and other establishments finally offer a vegan burger.
"It indicates we’re going in the right direction and that the option is there to make a better choice. It’s good for animals, the environment and our health. Vegan eateries are few and far between. I just hope it doesn’t happen again.”
A McDonald’s spokeswoman said: “We absolutely recognise that it is not acceptable to serve meat when a vegan product has been ordered. We take order accuracy very seriously and have a number of procedures in place to avoid inaccurate orders and we are disappointed that we fell short of these on this occasion.
“When the matter was brought to the attention of our restaurant team, we immediately apologised for this mistake. Our customer services team has also been in contact with the customer to offer our apologies and help find a resolution.”
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