The fast-food behemoth has finally entered the fake-meat ring

Back in April, we questioned when McDonald’s would get into the fake-meat game, and why it hadn’t already. After all, nearly every other major fast-food player had introduced some sort of plant-based product, and it seemed only a matter of time. Well, that day is here. Food & Wine reports that the king of American fast food is testing a “P.L.T.”—that’s “plant, lettuce, and tomato”—made with a Beyond Meat patty. The sandwich will be available at 28 restaurants in Ontario, Canada, starting September 30, for 12 weeks. From there, McDonald’s will assess whether the rollout was a success.

Say hello to the new P.L.T. from @mcdonaldscanada - a juicy, plant-based burger made with a Beyond Meat patty! The P.L.T. will be tested for 12 weeks in 28 McDonald’s restaurants in Southwestern Ontario, Canada starting 9/30. Learn more here ➡️ https://t.co/NiqjT4GX7A pic.twitter.com/h9MZ3xrVvI — Beyond Meat (@BeyondMeat) September 26, 2019

Though it’s made from Beyond Meat, McDonald’s isn’t calling the sandwich vegetarian, as it’ll be cooked on the same griddle as its burgers. Which seems like it’s defeating the point a little, though maybe they’re just learning from other businesses’ missteps. But given that Burger King’s Impossible Whopper was so popular it caused a shortage, and McDonald’s stock went up after the announcement of the Canadian test, it seems safe to say that McDonald’s will find demand for the P.L.T.

And in other news...

Milkshake Duck Alert: a college student who went viral by holding up a sign saying “Busch Light Supply Needs Replenished,” and got a partnership with Busch Beer out of it, has been dropped by the brewers after old, racist tweets of his resurfaced. [NY Post]

Semi-Homemade queen Sandra Lee and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have broken up after 14 years. His mom never liked your lasagna anyway, Sandra. You can do better! [People]

Arby’s parent company, Inspire Brands, is buying Jimmy John’s, making it the fourth-largest restaurant company in the U.S. [CBS News]

Prehistoric parents used baby bottles made of pottery. Can’t wait for this to become a bougie parent trend. [NY Times]

It had been come time since we got an adorable animal eating human food trash. Everyone, welcome Nutella Squirrel. [NY Post]

The Egg and the Ice Cream on The Masked Singer were revealed last night. They’re Johnny Weir and Ninja, respectively. [Decider]

David Chang is opening a burger restaurant in Las Vegas, based on slider shop White Manna in New Jersey. The man loves his fast food! [Twitter]

What the life of a vegan dominatrix looks like. [Tenderly]

Finally, remembering the good old days of the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich

remember when they gave us the chicken sandwich and then they took it away because we were bad — wikipedia brown ||| abolish ICE. (@eveewing) September 25, 2019

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