Burger King would like you to “breathe the farts of change.” (Yes, you read it right.)
The fast food chain has recently been diversifying its flagship Whopper sandwich, cutting out artificial preservatives and offering a meatless “Impossible Whopper”. Her latest innovation: decidedly less carbonated beef. The official name for this new Whopper is the Beef Methane Emission Reduced Whopper.
Burger King delivered the ad Tuesday through a new commercial starring viral country music singer Mason Ramsey.
As a result, cows raised for their meat tend to burp and fart a lot. And those emissions have a big impact on climate change.
The Washington Post reported that cows produce excess methane as enzymes break down food in their digestive system. This methane is released through belching and flatulence. And its environmental impact is significant: Livestock contributes 14.5% of the world’s global greenhouse gas emissions, Business Insider reports, and methane warms the planet 86 times more than carbon dioxide in 10 to 20 years. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the livestock industry is directly responsible for approximately a quarter of climate change in the industrial age. In other words, carbonated cows (and our dependence on them) are a big part of the problem.
So how did Burger King make his cattle burp and fart less? By partnering with scientists from the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico and the University of California, Davis. These scientists developed a feed that adds 100 grams of lemongrass to a cow’s daily diet. According to scientists, this addition of lemongrass reduces a cow’s methane emissions by 33% in the last three to four months of life. (Livestock generally eat a food made from corn and soy, which makes them especially carbonated, The Takeout reported.)
Sara Place, director of sustainability for Elanco, an international animal health company, told the Washington Post that methane emissions from livestock have fallen 30% since 1975, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization.
“I see these (food supplement) innovations essentially add to that,” he said, explaining that previous innovations were financially motivated, and “now that we focus on greenhouse gas emissions, it will accelerate that curve, if you It will, in the interest of trying to further reduce emissions. “
Burger King launched these new Whoppers on Tuesday at five total locations in Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Portland. The chain is likely expanding this pilot menu to Brazil, Mexico and some countries in Europe, the Washington Post reported.
While the new Burger King innovation will not solve methane emissions across the livestock industry, the company has made its research and lemongrass feeding formula publicly available, and is reportedly talking to suppliers across the globe. world about expanding your test. So, for now, they deserve to honk their own horn.
