Month: December 2022

On January 4, 2023 McDonalds will introduce a double patty version, the McPlant® Double, of their vegan burger, made with the Beyond Meats pea protein alternative. The single patty McPlant Burger has been sold in all McDonalds stores since the beginning of 2022. Other vegan offerings are limited to Veggie Dippers, the Spicy Veggie Wrap, fries and some drinks. Yes, those tasty fries, while not that good for you, are vegan!

McPlant is a vegan burger made with a juicy plant-based patty that has been co-developed with Beyond Meat® and features vegan sandwich sauce, ketchup, mustard, onion, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and a vegan alternative to cheese in a sesame seed bun. It is vegan certified (in the UK) by the Vegetarian Society.

Per McDonalds, the plant based patty is cooked in an oven, not on the grill. While meat products are also cooked in the oven, this will not be at the same time or using the same equipment as McPlant. McPlant uses specific equipment, including oven trays and tongs, so it will not come into contact with meat products, and the ovens and equipment are cleaned regularly.

We have to assume they are doing this because the plant based single patty burger is quite successful.

Link from MacDonalds: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/latest-updates/mcplant.html

The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed new plant based meat alternatives, using something called cellular agriculture and locally available (abundant) crops that are climate resistant and can be raised nearly anywhere.

These alternatives are ready for large scale production and VTT intends to make the formulas available to food producers.

Given what we know about the climate impacts of the meat industry and are hearing about farmers having to leave portions of their land fallow due to water shortages, we’ll need adaptable, plant based food sources.

What I find most interesting is just the fact that a government sponsored research lab is looking at this. Nothing comparable is happening in the U.S. Here the meat and dairy industry has such clout that any research has to be done by corporations or startups.

Source: https://www.vttresearch.com/en/news-and-ideas/finland-makes-plant-based-meat-attractive-science