In November,听 plans to roll out plant-based versions of its听signature items, including a burger, chicken sandwich, and breakfast sandwich made with plant-based sausage. The new menu, called the McPlant, is hardly a surprise.
McDonald鈥檚 is a latecomer听to the plant-based fast-food game:听 debuted the Impossible Slider in April 2018. Shortly after,听 补苍诲听 added Beyond and Impossible products to their menus, respectively. Then听 released a breakfast sandwich made with plant-based sausage, and KFC 补苍诲听 began rolling out meatless chicken in select markets.听These options, part of a massive innovation boom in alternative meat,听are engineered to be extremely similar to the meats they mimic.听They鈥檙e different听from old-school veggie burgers, which were just plant proteins like beans or soy in the shape of a small patty. These new products are still made from a mishmash of plant proteins, but they听look, smell, cook, and taste like the real deal.
As a nutrition journalist, I find the whole trend a little baffling. The number of Americans who follow a vegetarian diet hasn鈥檛 changed much in recent decades. In fact, adult vegetarians in the U.S. dropped听from 6听percent of the population听to 5听percent between 1999 and 2019, according to a听 poll. And while many vegetarians are OK eating food cooked with the same griddles and deep fryers as meat, those who aren鈥檛 have听 over the cross contamination that happens at certain fast-food joints. (Many chains include a disclaimer on their website as well as听their menu stating that this is the case, so it鈥檚 worth looking into听or asking a staff member about if听this is a deal breaker for you.) Still, vegan and vegetarian options are trending like never before, likely because more customers are interested in eating sustainably.
The number of American adults concerned about climate change is growing dramatically, up from 44 percent in 2009 to 60 percent in 2020, according to the . And 55 percent of听respondents in a听 reported that they are willing to eat less meat as a way to combat it. If you鈥檙e a major fast-food company, that鈥檚 a trend worth capitalizing on.
Is This Fast Food Healthier?
The term 鈥減lant-based鈥 often gets an automatic health halo: it reads as synonymous with 鈥済ood for you,鈥 no matter the context. And when done right, it can be. A found that plant-based diets were linked to a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes, because they鈥檙e generally low in saturated fat, high in fiber, and nutrient dense. But that鈥檚 an entire diet they鈥檙e talking about, not a single ingredient or meal. And these new plant-based meats are听popular because they are engineered to be as close to the real deal as possible鈥攏ot just in taste and texture听but nutritionally, too.
Both听 补苍诲听 burgers contain 20 grams of protein per four ounces, while the same amount of听 has 21 grams. The plant-based听protein comes from a variety of sources鈥攔ice, pea, and mung bean protein in Beyond beef; soy and potato protein in Impossible beef. Since听protein is important for both performance and general health, the fact that you can get just as much of it from plant-based beef as regular beef is a good thing.
But听there are downsides. Impossible beef contains the same amount of saturated fat as 85 percent lean ground beef:听eight grams per four ounces. Beyond recently lowered its听saturated fat content, but a serving still contains five grams. The听 recommend听limiting saturated fat to less than 10听percent of your total calorie intake, or about 22 grams per day for someone who eats around 2,000 calories. Too much saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, regardless of听.
, a dietitian and athletic trainer based in San Francisco, points out that plant-based meat also tends to be higher in sodium than regular meat. The听 has about 10听percent more sodium than its beef counterpart. Even before cooking or seasoning, beef from both Beyond and Impossible has more than听350 milligrams of sodium per four ounces, compared to 75 milligrams in 85 percent lean ground beef. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans听recommend听consuming听less听than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, since too much can contribute to high blood pressure, increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke.听鈥淚 can鈥檛听say that plant-based burgers are a healthier choice than just getting a regular beef burger,鈥 Moody says.
When it comes to plant-based chicken versus the real thing, Moody explains that it鈥檚 likely the same story, since both are breaded and fried. KFC doesn鈥檛 list the nutrition information for Beyond Fried Chicken on its听website (which is a little odd, as听the company听lists it for everything else), but according to听, one nugget has 60 calories, one and a half grams of saturated fat, and five grams of protein. It鈥檚 hard to compare that to its听regular chicken, since KFC听doesn鈥檛 have chicken nuggets. But听 (the closest thing on the menu to Beyond Fried Chicken) has 260 calories, two grams of saturated fat, and 19 grams of protein per serving. That means that, per calorie, the plant-based nuggets actually have less protein and more saturated fat than regular chicken tenders.
Sustainability鈥攁nd Accessibility鈥擟ount
It鈥檚 not all bad news. If your main concern is planetary health, plant-based foods are听the better choice. Yes, some of the听 touting the sustainability of plant-based meat is funded by the same companies that make it, which听might overestimate its positive impact. But that plant-based foods have a smaller environmental impact than animal products, processed or not.
A听 published in the journal Global Environmental Change looked at data from 140 countries and concluded that a vegan diet has a 70 percent smaller carbon footprint than a traditional diet. Animal products require a lot of resources: about听 is used to raise livestock or grow livestock feed, but those animals make up just 18 percent of the calories produced for human consumption. In order to sustainably feed the growing number of people on the planet,听we have to adjust the way we eat.
Plant-based options at fast-food restaurants that actually taste good might help get more people on board with a planet-friendly diet. 鈥淐orporations are providing these offerings not only for vegans and vegetarians听but for meat-eating customers who are interested in plant-based options as well,鈥 says听, a Chicago-based dietitian who specializes in veganism. She points out that Burger King had another veggie burger on its menu for years, but it didn鈥檛 taste anything like beef and only existed on the menu so that there was a vegetarian option. 鈥淣ow that there are beef-like alternatives, I think a lot more meat eaters are going for these options,鈥 Wolfram says. She鈥檚 right鈥听reported on a survey showing that 95 percent of people who bought these new plant-based burgers in 2019 were meat eaters.
Impossible Whoppers and McPlant sandwiches also听make plant-based eating more accessible to those who rely on fast food for many of their meals, whether that鈥檚 due to convenience, price, or preference.听On any given day, 36 percent of American adults eat fast food, according to a 2018 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.听If even a fraction of those 85 million Americans went plant-based for their meal, it听could have a significant environmental听impact. While these听new alternatives听typically听cost between one and two dollars more than their meat-based counterparts,听听still thinks that they could have a broad enough appeal to create听change. If that Impossible Whopper convinces a diehard carnivore to give plant-based options a chance, then that鈥檚 certainly something.
It鈥檚 Still Fast Food
If you eat fast food often and want to lessen your carbon footprint, plant-based menu items are a good choice. But if you only eat it occasionally, just go ahead and order what you鈥檙e craving. Whether they鈥檙e made from plants or animals, the menu items at your local McDonald鈥檚 aren鈥檛 terribly nutritious. And that鈥檚 OK. No single food will make or break your diet, and you don鈥檛 need to choose the healthiest option every time you eat. A good diet means you鈥檙e getting the nutrients your body needs, but it also means you鈥檙e eating what you want. Maybe that鈥檚 an Impossible Whopper, and maybe it鈥檚 a Big Mac.听