A vegan diner has spoken of his disappointment after a strip of bacon fell out of his McDonald's McPlant burger as he was halfway through eating it. He said it happened as he was tucking into the second of two burgers ordered at a McDonald's restaurant on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old, who asked not to be named, said he received the burgers after ordering via the fast food giant's app. He said he assumed a piece of tomato had dropped out of the McPlant as he was eating it, later realising to his horror that it was a strip of meat.
A McPlant is made with a 'plant-based patty' that has been co-developed with Beyond Meat and certified by the Vegetarian Society as an ‘approved’ vegan product. But on this occasion the diner said his burger from the Sutton Coldfield restaurant came with bacon.
He told Birmingham Live : “I ordered two McPlants and was sat in the McDonald's. I had eaten the first one and was halfway through the second one when a piece of bacon dropped out. I didn’t even realise it was bacon to begin with. I thought it was a piece of tomato as it was pink.
"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 complained to customer services at home and was offered a £5 off if I spend £5 voucher.”
The man said he had been pescatarian for 11 years, eating fish but not meat, and became vegan two years ago. He added: “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.
“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 told Birmingham Live: “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.”
