Burger King’s Reduced Methane Emissions Beef Whopper is available in Miami

Burger King has rebalanced the diet of some of its cows by adding lemon grass in a bid to limit bovine contributions to climate change. Burger King said it believes it can reduce a cow’s daily methane emissions by about 33%.

On Tuesday, Burger King introduced its Reduced Methane Emissions Beef Whopper, made with beef sourced from cows that emit reduced methane, in select restaurants in Miami, New York, Austin, Portland and Los Angeles, while supplies last.

Cows emit methane as a by-product of their digestion, and that has become a potential public-relations hurdle for major burger chains.

Greenhouse-gas emissions from the agriculture sector made up 9.9% of total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions in 2018, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Of that amount, methane emissions from livestock comprised more than a quarter of the emissions from the agriculture sector.

According to a recent poll by The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about two out of three Americans say corporations have a responsibility to combat climate change. The gravitational pull of climate change is increasingly finding its way onto national political stage.

Potential customers are also cutting down on the amount of meat they consume, citing both environmental and dietary concerns. Burger King and rival McDonald’s have added meat alternatives to their menus.

Two years ago, McDonald’s said it was taking steps to cut the greenhouse gases that it emits by tweaking the manner in which the beef in its Big Macs and Quarter Pounders was produced.