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Vegan grills McDonald's after shock find in McPlant burger

A vegan McDonald's customer has grilled the fast-food chain after finding a strip of bacon in his McPlant Burger.

The 37-year-old customer, from Birmingham in the UK, ordered two of McDonald's McPlant burgers shortly after 11.30am on Wednesday when he made the shocking discovery.

The McPlant Burger the UK man ordered is made with a plant-based patty co-developed with Beyond Meat, and is “vegan certified” by the Vegetarian Society.

Bacon strip on McDonald's floor after falling from vegan burger
A vegan McDonald's customer in the UK has grilled the fast-food chain after finding a strip of bacon in his McPlant Burger. Source: Birmingham Live

However it wasn’t until taking a bite of his second meat-free burger that the shocked customer noticed a piece of bacon had fallen out.

Glancing down in horror at the stray piece of meat, the disgusted customer took the remains of his burger to staff at McDonald's Lower Parade restaurant in Sutton Coldfield, who apologised profusely for the mistake.

“I didn’t even realise it was bacon to begin with. I thought it was a piece of tomato as it was pink," the confused customer told Birmingham Live.

McDonald's McPlant vegan burger with fries
The McDonald's customer said he felt let down after finding meat in his certified vegan burger. Source: Getty

'I feel let down'

Following his exchange with McDonald's staff at the counter, the man complained to customer service from home and was offered a voucher for £5 (AU$8.80) off his meal.

“My concern is that the McPlant is certified vegan by the Vegetarian Society. So it shouldn’t have happened if the society’s vegan rules were followed. The food areas are supposed to be completely separate," the man told Birmingham Live.

Woman walks passed McDonald's with McPlant sign in window
After complaining to McDonald's customer service, the man was offered a voucher for GDP£5 (AU$8.80) off his meal if he spends £5 (AU$8.80). Source: Getty

“I feel let down. The fact that the McPlant has been accredited with the Vegetarian Society's vegan certification was good enough for me,” he said.

He explained that while it was “good that McDonald's and other establishments” are now offering vegan options, he just hopes a mistake like this doesn’t happen again.

"Vegan eateries are few and far between. I just hope it doesn’t happen again,” he concluded.

McDonald's UK recognises it is 'not acceptable' to serve meat to vegan customers

A spokesperson for McDonald's UK said the fast food retailer recognises 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,” said the spokesperson.

“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.”

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