‘Bleeding’ veggie Whopper is hard to swallow for cattlemen

Republican politicians issue warning of dystopian meat-free future after Burger King move

IN THE land where the buffalo once roamed, the prospect of meatless, plant-based hamburgers is not going down well.

“I will never, ever try one,” Kenny Graner, president of the US Cattlemen’s Association, told The Sunday Telegraph from his ranch in North Dakota. “I hear they’re bland anyway. It’s not meat.”

Mr Graner was responding to Burger King’s decision this week to launch a version of its Whopper hamburger made from a plant substitute.

The “Impossible Whopper” is engineered to “bleed” and taste exactly like the real thing.

For America’s two million beef farmers, and its 94 million methaneproducing cattle, it marked a watershed moment as they become the target of Democrat supporters of the Green New Deal, who blame livestock for greenhouse gas emissions.

The debate has opened up a fissure between those in the rural West and urbanites intent on reducing the number of cattle. According to the United Nations, livestock accounts for up to 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Republican politicians, many of whom represent beef farming areas, have responded by warning of a dystopian meat-free future in which hamburgers are banned and “farting cows” are wiped off the face of the plains, like the buffalo before them.

They believe opposition to the Green New Deal could serve to energise their voters in 2020. “These Green New Deal people, I’m sorry, but they’re out there,” Mr Graner said. “A few hundred years ago you had bison across the enI’ve eaten hundreds of burgers and, on first bite, the plant-based Impossible version was no different. In fact, it was better than many. It looked the same. Same colour, slightly charcoaly on top, brown and very slightly bloody inside. There’s nothing to signify it’s not meat. It even smells like beef.

As you get about half way through it does seem to get a bit dryer than a regular burger. And, as you go on, the texture seems a little more chewy. But I’m being picky. I would never have known the “ham” in this hamburger was actually “heme” – or soy leghaemoglobin to give it its full name.

Heme, the central ingredient, is produced using genetically modified yeast. According to Pat Brown, founder of Impossible Foods, heme “catalyses reactions in your mouth” and “generates these very potent odour molecules that smell bloody and metallic”. It fools your taste buds to make you think you’re eating beef.

It’s a vast improvement on another meatsubstitute burger I tried. It’s also nice to know you’re consuming a fraction of the cholesterol. However, the Impossible Whopper is a dollar more expensive and has more sodium in it – so not that great for your blood pressure.

Nick Allen tire United States. Don’t you think bison farted? Or the elk? Or the moose?”

Burger King introduced its doppelgänger burgers this week at 59 outlets in St Louis, Missouri. It hopes to expand them across the US by the end of the year. Other companies are expected to follow. Nestlé’s plant-based “Awesome Burger” launches in several months.

The Impossible Whopper is made by extracting DNA from soy plants and inserting it into a genetically engineered yeast. That is fermented to create the key ingredient, heme, which makes the patties appear to bleed and taste like real meat.

The burgers are made by San Fran

‘Who wants to give up that grilling smell when you have a backyard barbecue and throw some steaks on?’

cisco-based Impossible Foods, funded with $475million (£365million) from investors such as Bill Gates and Google.

In St Louis the reviews for the Impossible Whopper were mixed. Burger King released a video of a blind taste test in which diners were shocked that they y could not tell the difference from a beef Whopper.

Mr Graner added: “The big thing is taste. And who wants to give up that grilling smell when you have a backyard barbecue and throw some steaks on. That smell? Plants don’t do

it.”