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KFC is accidentally serving vegans chicken

The fast food chain has just started introducing vegan alternatives to its mainly chicken based meals, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be eating meat.

It’s taken a hell of a long time, but it seems that vegan alternatives to your junk food fixes are finally hitting mainstream food outlets.

After the huge success of UK bakery Gregg’s vegan sausage roll in 2019, many other convenience food chains are drafting up their own plant based meals, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC – though you might want to wait a bit before you try that last one.

Starting this week, KFC is introducing a vegan, meat-free burger substitute for its classic fillet burger and, yes, it apparently still has all eleven of those mysterious ‘herbs and spices’. You can also grab BBQ beans or corn on the cob as sides. All the ingredient information can be found here if you want to dive into the details.

That’s not going to guarantee you actually get a vegan meal, mind. Since its initial rollout on the 2nd January there have been multiple accounts of vegans accidentally being served meat – which has caused some understandable disgust.

Why are people kicking up a fuss?

According to various publications such as The Independent and The Sun, a handful of vegan customers have been unintentionally served chicken, which isn’t exactly ideal if you’ve not eaten meat for years. Several customers said they were physically sick following their meals and vowed to never return.

KFC’s response was surprisingly nonchalant. In a public statement a spokesperson said, ‘hands up – this isn’t great’, which is fair play, really, though it’s a little dismissive. The chain said the issues were ‘inexcusable’ and has vowed for things to get back on track, adding ‘we’re only human’.

In the restaurants defence, the vegan option has only just been introduced and has required new equipment in 900 restaurants, as well as the retraining of over 4000 staff members. Mistakes are bound to happen on that large of a scale, especially in the first few weeks of introducing a vegan option to a chain that literally has chicken in its name.

Are KFC’s new vegan options a good thing?

It’s an encouraging sign to see a buzz around food options that are entirely plant based, regardless of the occasional slip up. As more vegan burgers and convenience foods hit the mainstream it increases the possibility that new people will at least consider it as a lifestyle choice.

Meat consumption will become less acceptable in the near future, as climate change and agriculture’s huge damage to our environment become more urgent issues. There are many people out there who snack on fast foods without ever considering adopting veganism. Introducing options to places they regularly dine normalises the concept of ditching meat and is very likely to sway younger eaters.

So, while some vegans are currently vomiting into bins having eaten chicken for the first time in a decade, the fact that big chains are now incentivised to ditch meat is a positive overall. We may just have to get over these growing pains at the expense of some.

Hopefully KFC gets its act together before everyone is put off buying a vegan fillet burger, though. There’s only so many accidental deliveries of meat the public can take.

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