- Burger King on Tuesday unveiled a Whopper made from cows that produce 33% less methane emissions.
- By adding 100 grams of lemongrass to cow diets, Burger King says cows burp and fart less, producing less methane, which can contribute to climate change.
- “It’s not really rocket science,” said Restaurant Brands International marketing director Fernando Machado. “Adding 100 grams of lemongrass … can have a significant impact in terms of greenhouse emissions.”
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Burger King is trying to reduce the amount of belching and farting of cows, as the hamburger chain tries to pressure the industry to reduce methane emissions.
On Tuesday, Burger King announced that it had worked with scientists from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico and the University of California, Davis, to develop a new diet for cows that reduces the amount of methane they produce. The belching and farting of cows is a major producer of methane emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to rising temperatures worldwide.
Preliminary tests indicate that adding 100 grams of lemongrass to cows’ diets helps them release approximately 33% less methane in the last three to four months of their lives.
Adding lemongrass to the diet essentially helps cows digest. Without lemongrass, more methane is emitted primarily through belching as well as farting, Restaurant Brands International marketing director Fernando Machado told Business Insider.
A handful of Burger King locations in Miami, New York, Austin, Portland and Los Angeles will begin selling low-emission Whoppers on Tuesday.
However, the chain says it hopes to inspire change across the industry. Lemongrass research and formulation is openly available, and the chain is talking to suppliers around the world about expanding the trial. Burger King also released a commercial explaining the connections between cows, methane, and climate change on Tuesday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6xDv8RX87A
“The beauty, and perhaps the madness, is that we are doing something … that can have a real impact on the world by putting pressure on the industry to adopt this new practice,” Machado said.
While livestock is responsible for approximately 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, belching and farting from cows is not the only way agriculture contributes to climate change. Fast Company reports that fertilizers used to grow grains, fed to cows before sending them to the slaughterhouse, are a great source of emissions. Overgrazing and deforestation also contribute significantly to global warming.
Machado said Burger King’s decision to focus on lemongrass is in part simply because it is a convenient solution, even if it is not a silver bullet that solves all of the industry’s sustainability problems. Adding lemongrass to a cow’s diet does not affect the weight of the cows or other things that could affect the taste of hamburgers.
“It is not really rocket science,” said Machado. “Adding 100 grams of lemongrass … can have a significant impact in terms of greenhouse emissions, which is probably the biggest negative contribution this industry has.”
