A former McDonald’s chef has revealed whether the iconic fast food chain will ever launch its plant-based nuggets in the US, and his answer is quite surprising.
The information was shared in a new TikTok video. made by Mike Haraczwho spent four years as McDonald’s Culinary Innovation Manager in the United States.
It came in the wake of recent news that France had added plant-based ‘chicken’ nuggets to its menu at all of its restaurants across the country.
The nuggets are made with Beyond Meat, which is a company that makes vegan “meat” from plant proteins like peas and mung beans.
However, unfortunately for vegans around the world, Haracz revealed that it doesn’t look like these are coming to the United States anytime soon, if ever.
Former McDonald’s chef Mike Haracz has revealed whether the iconic fast food chain will ever launch plant-based nuggets in the US, and the answer is “probably not.”
Her video emerged in light of the recent news that France had added plant-based ‘chicken’ nuggets to its menu at all of its restaurants in the country.
“I’m going to say probably not, for a couple of reasons,” Haracz began the video.
“The number one reason is that plant-based foods at McDonald’s don’t sell very well,” he revealed.
“They’ve tried the McPlant, they’ve tried salads, they’ve tried other things, and American consumers don’t want to buy vegetables or vegetable-based products from McDonald’s in the United States.”
He said this what the numbers showed.
The second reason he offered was that it can be quite expensive to get plant-based meat.
“McDonald’s is vertically integrated in chicken, they get a good deal because they own the bird, the feathers, the beak, the legs, the shell, all that, so everything they don’t use, they can sell and make money.” in that,’ he explained.
“With plant-based chicken nuggets, I’m not sure what the price would be, so there’s that issue,” the former chef continued.
The last and “biggest” issue he raised about plant-based nuggets was that even though the item would be plant-based, it could be fried in the same fryer where regular meat-containing chicken nuggets are fried.
“The number one reason is that plant-based foods at McDonald’s don’t actually sell very well,” he revealed.
Their plant-based ‘burger’, the McPlant, is available on the menu in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, the Baltic States, Malta and Slovenia.
“Cross-contact would mean they are no longer vegan or vegetarian; they are touching real meat products anyway,” he explained.
“One way to get a bit of a loophole is if they’re baked, if it’s a baked version, but I’m guessing they won’t be as delicious as the fried version, so they would need a specific fryer.” to fry them,’ he suggested.
Haracz also said they could release the product with a disclaimer on the box saying it has come into contact with meat products, but that would, of course, pose a problem for vegans and vegetarians.
“If no vegan comes, eats it and supports it, the sales they will have will be much less,” he concluded.
However, France is not the only country that has the privilege of a plant-based product at McDonald’s, according to Los Angeles Times.
Its plant-based ‘burger’, the McPlant, is available on the menu in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, the Baltic countries, Malta and Slovenia, the outlet reported.
DailyMail.com has contacted McDonald’s for comment.