VG Classic®: Beyond Meat® Burger at Veggie Grill®

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

In April 2020 The Vegetarian Resource Group was working on an article comparing nutrition of the new meat-like veggie burgers. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2020issue3/2020_issue3_newer_meat.php

We noticed that the VG Classic menu item featuring a Beyond Burger^® at Veggie Grill had different nutritional values for the patty alone than those posted on the Beyond Meat (BM) website for the Beyond Burger patty.

Veggie Grill (VG) is a fast-casual vegan restaurant chain currently in New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, California, Oregon, and Washington that has been enjoyed by VRG staff and volunteers. See https://www.veggiegrill.com/

Using Veggie Grill’s online nutrition calculator, https://www.veggiegrill.com/nutrition-calculator.html and eliminating all condiments, the Beyond Meat Beyond Burger^® patty in their VG Classic menu option received the following nutritionals:

• Calories: 300
• Sodium: 650 mg
• Saturated Fat: 8 g

By comparison, the nutrition facts label for the Beyond Burger, on the Beyond Meat website https://shop.beyondmeat.com/products/trialpack listed:

• Calories: 260
• Sodium: 350 mg
• Saturated Fat: 5 g

[VRG note: To see the nutrition facts for the patty itself on the Beyond Meat website, click on the leftmost label (there are four) below the large photo of the trial pack from the link above.]    

The VRG noticed that the Veggie Grill website calculator did not list a patty weight. Beyond Meat’s website label stated it was 4 oz. Thinking that a difference in serving size weight, cooking method, different ingredients – or some combination – created the discrepancies, we contacted both Beyond Meat and Veggie Grill for more information.

Initial Response from Beyond Meat Customer Service

The Customer Care Team at Beyond Meat, quickly replied in May 2020 by saying:

“…when our products are in restaurants, the restaurant does have the liberty to cook and serve our products as they wish – this is the same for U.S. and international restaurants. Therefore the nutritional information for our retail burger and the one at Veggie Grill may be slightly different depending on size. We hope this clears things up!” 

Beyond Meat also told us, “Our nutrition information is for our products uncooked, we don’t have information to offer for after cooked.”

Response from Veggie Grill Customer Service

We received a reply to our inquiry using the Veggie Grill website contact request form.

“…We have followed up with our culinary team and confirmed that we receive a proprietary patty that is different than what can be purchased at the store. This would explain why the nutritional information is different than what is listed on their website.”

The VRG followed up by asking about whether the patty nutritional values were for a cooked or uncooked patty. We also wanted to know how much it weighed.

Veggie Grill responded that “A representative from Beyond Meat will contact you shortly to answer all of your questions regarding the Beyond patties we use at our locations. We believe this will be the best solution as they will have all of the answers for you as the patty that we use is not the exact same as what can be purchased in a store.”

Later Responses from BM

We received an email from Beyond Meat and learned:

• There is a retail Beyond Meat patty and a food service (FS) patty.
• Veggie Grill receives a foodservice patty from Beyond Meat.
• Consumers purchase retail Beyond Meat patties in the store.
• There is less fat in the retail product than in the foodservice patty.
• The added fat (in this case, coconut oil) is there to prevent the patty from drying out until it’s served to a restaurant guest.
• Both the retail patty and the foodservice patty have the same proteins (that is, pea proteins and brown rice) but in different amounts.
• Veggie Grill receives a 4 oz. patty.

Beyond Meat then sent us specification sheets for the retail and foodservice burgers. Specification sheets, also known as spec sheets, give information – including nutritional data – about products. They are intended for wholesale customers, although general consumers can request to see them.

Here is the relevant information from the spec sheets:

Here is the ingredient statement for the food service patty:

Water, Pea Protein Isolate, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Beet Juice Extract (for color), Pomegranate Fruit Powder, Lycopene Color (from Tomato).

Here is the ingredient statement for the retail patty:

“Water, Pea Protein, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Beet Juice Extract (for color).”

The VRG notes that cocoa butter,

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Fatty-acid-and-triglycerides-profile-of-genuine-cocoa-butter_tbl1_308523494 a source of fat that contains more saturated components than unsaturated, is added to the retail patty but not the foodservice patty. (There is only 5 g of saturated fat in the retail patty (total fat: 18 g) versus 6 g (total fat: 20 g) in the foodservice patty.)

On all food labels, ingredients are listed in order of predominance in the product. See

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/overview-food-ingredients-additives-colors#qalabel Relative percentages vary and are proprietary. So, it is likely that there is comparatively more coconut oil (fourth ingredient listed on both statements) in the foodservice than in the retail version.

The specification sheets created more questions, since the values from Veggie Grill’s online calculator (shown above) were different from both of the spec sheets. These are responses from Veggie Grill to additional questions we asked.

“We do not add any oil to the flat top when cooking the burgers because the burgers contain enough fat in them.

Depending on what style we are doing, sometimes seasonings are added (those are included in the nutritionals we post). All of our burgers have sauces, garnishes, breads, etc.  added. Any ingredient we use on our burgers is included in the nutritionals. It will never be JUST the patty nutritionals.”

The last reply implies that something else beside the patty is included in the stated nutritional values given above for the Veggie Grill patty since they are greater than those of the foodservice patty.

In reply to our additional questions, Beyond Meat said, “Also, the reason you are seeing a discrepancy in spec sheet info is most likely due to the fact we are constantly innovating and improving our products so our spec sheets are constantly changing.”

September Follow-up from Veggie Grill

Here is additional information we learned from our phone conversation with Veggie Grill:

• The patty Veggie Grill uses from Beyond Meat is “smaller in terms of ounces” than the retail BM burger.
• No salt is added to the burger.
• The burger isn’t grilled in oil.

“…Some of the confusion may be in that we are in the process of doing a 90% overhaul to our menu and so over the past few months, our burger skus have changed slightly as we’ve perfected the menu items. [VRG Note: SKU, or stock-keeping unit, is a unique identifier for an item sold by a business. Businesses create their own codes based on various characteristics of their merchandise. This allows vendors to track inventory. Each business has its own definitions of skus for internal use, unlike other identifiers of a product, which are the same for all businesses. A Beyond Burger at one chain would have a different SKU than at another restaurant chain.]

Also within that time, Beyond Burger switched their formula. So the actual nutritionals have changed a few times, although we try to keep up with those changes in all portals as they happen…We are extremely committed to and conscious of the need for transparency in our nutritional information. Our menu items change frequently, and the vendors we use also make changes. It is common for nutritionals to change on menu items even though the overall item may not appear to change for the guest.”

VRG had observed on Beyond Meat’s foodservice spec sheet and a NFP (nutrition facts profile) sent to us stating that it was “the nutritional statement from Beyond Meat.”

Here is that NFP (nutrition facts profile):

Upon seeing the 3.7 oz serving size, The VRG learned that Beyond Meat has several different formulas. Their standard is 4 oz., but Veggie Grill uses a 3.7 wt oz. patty.

It was at this time, when we checked the Veggie Grill website, that the Nutrition Facts Profile for the Beyond Meat patty alone on the Veggie Grill nutrition calculator no longer showed the April 2020 values (shown above). Now the values were:

• Calories: 260
• Sodium: 370 mg
• Saturated Fat: 6 g

These were the same values shown on the Nutrition Facts Profile (above) and attributed as coming from Beyond Meat.

The VRG performed a proportional analysis of Beyond Meat’s and Veggie Grill’s values using the numbers listed on the Beyond Meat spec sheet (sent to us by Beyond Meat) for the food service patty and those now appearing on Veggie Grill’s calculator, taking into account weight differences:

BM Food Service Patty :: VG Patty

Calories: 4 oz./3.7 oz. :: 280/260 = 1.081/1.077 (approx. = 1)

Satd. Fat: 4/3.7 :: 6 g/6 g = 1.081/1 = 1.081

Sodium: 4/3.7 :: 390/370 = 1.081/1.054 = 1.026 (approx. = 1)

Assuming there may be slight discrepancies due to rounding, the proportional analysis indicates that website differences are due – at least in part – to the patty size difference (4 oz. vs. 3.7 oz.)

Veggie Grill confirmed it does not grill the patty in any oil. Therefore, the difference in calories between the Veggie Grill and Beyond Meat websites is not due to cooking. Veggie Grill also confirmed no sodium was added before serving, during, or after cooking. If so, sodium would be included in the nutritionals.

General Conclusions on Veggie Grill’s VG Classic made with Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger

Based on information from Beyond Meat and Veggie Grill, we know that:

• The nutritional values for the uncooked retail burger appear on the Beyond Meat site.
• The VG Classic burger values are based on a cooked patty made by Beyond Meat for food service (that is, restaurants, hospitals, schools, etc.)
• The Beyond Meat patties (food service and retail) are listed on their respective specification sheets as 4 oz. each uncooked. Beyond Meat told us this on several occasions, too.
• Veggie Grill reports that the patty sold to them by Beyond Meat is listed as being 3.7 oz.
• A proportional analysis of the nutritional values confirms, notwithstanding minor rounding discrepancies, that the 0.3 oz. weight difference (4.0 oz. – 3.7 oz.) accounts for differences in calories and sodium between the two patties.
• No differences in saturated fat amounts were observed. Beyond Meat told us that the foodservice patty has “added fat” – more than the retail burger ounce for ounce. (See chart above.) Since the Veggie Grill food service patty is smaller, (3.7 oz.), its saturated fat content should be slightly less than the saturated fat content in a 4 oz. food service Beyond Meat burger – according to proportional analysis. A possible explanation for this apparent anomaly may be due to rounding.
• Veggie Grill states that the nutritional values for the Beyond Meat patty used in their VG Classic, currently appearing on their online calculator, are the identical values reported to them by Beyond Meat. 

Thank you to Beyond Meat and Veggie Grill for all your assistance in answering these questions.

The contents of this posting, our website, and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

For information about other vegetarian and vegan restaurants, see https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

For information about restaurant chains, see https://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.php