Vegan 'let down' after claiming to find bacon in McPlant burger from Birmingham restaurant
A McDonald's customer says he feels 'let down' after discovering a piece of bacon in his McPlant burger.
The 37-year-old from Great Barr said he ordered two vegan burgers from the fast-food restaurant in Lower Parade, Sutton Coldfield on 13 April.
The McPlant is a vegan burger made with a 'plant-based patty' that has been co-developed with Beyond Meat.
It was first trialled in Coventry in September last year, before being rolled out to the rest of the country.
The dish is certified by the Vegetarian Society as an ‘approved’ vegan product.
The customer, who does not want to be named, says he had finished the first burger and bit into the second when the strip of bacon fell out.
He said: “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 at it properly and I put it to one side and carried on eating the burger.
The customer says he was a pescatarian for 11 years, eating fish but not meat, but became a vegan just over two years ago.
He said: “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" he adds.
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.”