This is some of why it is important to distinguish moral food specifications from health-related specification: it takes work for me to eat out anywhere that isn't exclusively vegetarian because meat contamination makes me ill, and restaurants don't understand that, for example, labeling things "vegetarian" when they are fried in the same oil as meat is misleading. Sometimes the grill is well-cleaned and it is fine, and then other times I am in for a night of misery and it's just not worth the risk.
So I don't disagree with anything in this statement, but what is it about cross-contaminating that's an issue here specifically? Is there a health reason to avoid any intake of meat products or an ethical/moral one?
For the later case... I'm on board with sane things (don't fry veggie burgers in animal fat) but less with (don't prepare this food where meat products were prepared) simply because... I feel like the same amount of effort should be taken with each meal and vegetarians shouldn't require separate processing things.
To draw a parallel, I'm lactose intolerant myself, but I've always felt it's a bit silly that <GENERIC COFFEE PLACE> has separate blenders for milk/soy/other (except almond, due to the factor of nut allergies).
Are you absolutely certain this is the case? The majority of my vegetarian friends would be upset to find their vegetarian dish was contaminated with meat if they ate out in a restaurant. I don't see why it would be any different in BK?
Don’t most people eat vegetarian for ethical reasons? For those these health considerations do not play a role at all when it comes to deciding whether to eat vegetarian or not. (They obviously do play a role when it comes to considering what to eat.)
But the mineral water and the salad don’t necessarily need to be labeled as vegetarian.
I think the issue is that people don’t interpret the ‘vegetarian’ label on the menu as “this is OK for vegetarians to eat”, they interpret it as “we altered this dish to make it suitable for vegetarians”, and usually the latter means it’s not very good.
Seeing how there are many reasons to be vegetarian, there's bound to be some confusion as some people consider cultured meat vegetarian (due to it not infringing on animal welfare), and others not (due to others not eating meat for other reasons).
I was a vegetarian for a long time. It started with health concerns and morphed to ethical concerns. I noticed that a lot of people are hostile when you say you are doing it for ethical reasons (e.g. for animal welfare or environmentalism), but are satisfied with the idea that you're doing it for your own health.
I feel the same about "extra effort". When I lived in New York City, many vegetarian restaurants would go out of their way to get kosher and halal certified (by conservative clerics). The owners would prominantly display the certificate at the entrance, plus the menu would share the same information. In my view it was two things: (1) virtue signalling (fine by me), and (2) appeal to a more customers who might not "naturally" be vegetarian. I knew many Orthodox Jews at my office. If their favourite Jewish Kosher lunch/dinner place was closed, they would check for kosher veg options.
If I put out a buffet where some items are vegetarian and some are not, I don't advertise it as a vegetarian buffet with the excuse that the nonvegetarian foods are optional.
I get you. It's really variable what someone's person AL definition of vegetarian is, which often defies what the intuitive definition is. E.g. meeting a self proclaimed vegetarian that eats fish. Yes, we'd call that a pescatarian (or just an omnivore) but they stick to "vegetarian". I think that the inconsistencies come from that vegetarian means some types of animal products, and the types become unclear.
And speaking personally, vegetarianism is morally inconsistent, too. Just leave the whole animal alone!
Since the vegetarians and vegans can still figure out the meat options contain meat I think it's more of a do not emphasize rather than withhold the information.
I imagine some people are also hand-wavey about the inevitable insect meat they consume in their otherwise vegetarian or vegan diet, or the countless small animals killed in the production of those foods. We all have to draw our lines somewhere I suppose, but let's be realistic about it. Consuming a few specs of beef juice on a vegetarian sandwich is not the same as purchasing or eating meat.
I find it annoying that a vegetarian can draw the line in the sand and decide what is morally correct for everyone to believe.
Only some vegetarians do that, and it's wrong to imply that it's a defining feature of the demographic. I have vegetarian friends that cook me meat when I visit for dinner, despite me asking not to get special treatment. Other vegetarians just don't like the taste of meat, nothing to do with moral or health attitudes.
Unless the vegetarian is being vocal about the moral issue, it's pretty impolite to bring up the topic apropos of nothing - it's almost always just the questioner trying to score some sort of point.
According to you, it's wrong "in a real sense" to make a fuss at a restaurant. According to others it's wrong to eat meat. Who are we to say which is worse? Which ultimately causes more harm and suffering in the world? It's great that you're not a fussy eater. Now try to show some respect for people who make different choices than you. And speaking of righteous indignation, you are showing a good deal of it in the face of some imagined restaurant incident; everyone else has simply pointed out that you can't sell non-vegetarian food as vegetarian.
"The results suggest removing vegetarian and vegan labels from menus could help guide US consumers towards reduced consumption of animal products."
The menu items would need to be descriptive about the ingredients used for someone who is actually vegetarian or vegan to know if the ingredients used truly is or not then.
I also get that these kinds of meals are generally cooked alongside or on cooking materials that may have come into contact with meat, but I haven't found a vegan/vegetarian friend that has been sensitive to that detail (unless it explicitly states it's cooked on grills and pans that had meat on them).
Unfortunately - and I say this as someone who doesn't eat meat - going vegetarian isn't enough to save you from bacteria. They will sometimes spray fields with contaminated animal waste which will then end up on your plate if not properly washed.
Maybe if everyone was vegetarian… The food industry is under a lot of pressure to cut any corner they can. Antibiotics give a producer an edge. Something like this really needs to be an industry-wide regulation.
I am well aware that vegetarians are often given a hard time for their choice to not eat meat. I grew up in a meat-and-potatoes family. I was a wannabe vegetarian for a time, but I have a serious medical condition and that simply doesn't work for me. Still, I eat a great deal less meat than is the norm for many of my relatives.
On visits home, I have been accused of being vegetarian because I don't necessarily have meat as part of Every. Single. Meal. For health reasons, it is not unusual for me to choose a vegetarian option. Even when I do eat meat, it is typically the smallest portion of anyone at the table.
I have thought very long and hard about food and ethics. I occasionally spell that out if it seems pertinent for some reason. Getting on my high horse about how my food choices are ethical or about the amount of time I have put into deciding my position on the matter as a means to piss on other people never strikes me as pertinent.
So it rather annoys me when a) I am equally given hell for my food choices by both vegetarians and by those who perceive me as a vegetarian and b) vegetarians inevitably assume that they have thought more on the matter and researched it more than I have simply because I don't agree with them.
Most of the world is raised on either a shame model or a guilt model. If you are choosing to not eat meat for ethical reasons, it isn't surprising that meat eaters will feel judged by you. Most vegetarians are, in fact, judgy about the diets of others. It isn't hard to convey that fact and meat eaters are not oblivious to it.
I rarely get hassled these days, in part because I mostly either eat alone or with my two adult sons. When I do attend a meal at a social function, if anyone comments on a lack of meat on my plate, I go out of my way to make it a non issue. I don't talk about food ethics. I usually avoid talking about my medical situation. I try to frame it as "Oh, the (vegetarian option) just looked scrumptious! I really love cheese dishes!"
Because I am a big believer in go pray in your closet and not interested in making my food choices a political issue between me and friends, family or acquaintances. So I go to great lengths to frame it as a personal choice that implies nothing at all about them.
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