Burger King introduces the meatless ‘Impossible Whopper’

Burger King is rolling out the Impossible Whopper nationwide, after a successful trial run testing the meatless burger in St. Louis. The chain announced in a statement today that it plans to test in more markets before distributing the burger nationally by the end of this year.

The Impossible Whopper is made with startup Impossible Foods’ plant-based patties, which are designed to look and taste like meat. The patties are also designed to “bleed,” just like the real thing, which can be attributed to the use of heme, a soy-based compound found in plants and meat. The burgers have 15 percent less fat and 90 percent less cholesterol than regular Whoppers, and Burger King’s taste test experiments claim that customers and employees can’t tell the difference.

The nationwide introduction of a vegetarian Whopper signals a more mainstream effort to include more meat-free options at national chains. Impossible Foods, the Silicon Valley company that created the “meat” used in the meatless Whopper, has also made its product available at White Castle. The plant-based meat used in the burgers gets its bloody look and sizzle from an ingredient called heme. Beyond Meat, another company that offers plant-based meat options, has made its way onto the menus of several other restaurants, including Carl’s Jr., Del Taco and TGI Fridays.