Today, McDonald’s debuted its first vegan Happy Meal option to all locations in the United Kingdom. The new meal features a wrap filled with shredded lettuce, ketchup, and meatless chicken fingers—made from yellow split peas, breadcrumbs, Arborio rice, dairy-free sundried tomato pesto, and red peppers. To make the Happy Meal entirely vegan, customers can choose carrot sticks or a pineapple stick as a side option, and water or juice as a drink option. McDonald’s also added a similar option, the Spicy Veggie Wrap (with spicy relish, tomato, lettuce, and red onion), to the adult menu. The ingredients for both wraps are vegan but McDonald’s labels the items “vegetarian” as they share a toaster with the chain’s buns, which contain milk. The move comes after a poll of the chain’s customers showed 33 percent wanted more meat-free options. McDonald’s partnered with UK’s Vegetarian Society and blogging network BritMums to develop the new menu items to meet demand. “We’re really proud to have worked closely with McDonald’s for over 10 years and it’s great to see their veggie menu developing, especially as McDonald’s tell us a third of their customers think it’s important to eat more veggie meals,” Vegetarian Society CEO Lynne Elliot said. “With the new Spicy Veggie Wrap and Veggie Happy Meal carrying our trademark, diners can trust their meal is 100 percent vegetarian.” In recent years, McDonald’s has added vegan items to its locations across the globe, such as the McAloo Tikki burger in Chicago and the El Veggo burger in Finland, and has expanded its McVegan burger across Finland and Sweden. In the United States, the company is “keeping an eye on” plant-based protein products such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat burgers.
