Some Fatburger Locations Serve Non-Vegan Whipped Cream Atop “Vegan” Milkshakes

VegNews has recently learned that at least two locations of Fatburger in the Los Angeles, CA area (West Hollywood and Beverly Hills) are serving lactose-free—but not vegan—Reddi-Wip on top of its otherwise vegan milkshakes. In October, Fatburger tested vanilla and strawberry vegan milkshakes (made with Craig’s Vegan Ice Cream) at 12 locations in Southern California before expanding the options to 50 additional locations in Southern California and Las Vegas, NV in mid-December. Last week, VegNews discovered that the West Hollywood location only offers lactose-free Reddi-Wip (which is not vegan as it contains cows’ milk), even though the milkshake is advertised on store windows as “vegan”—the photo depicting a swirl of the supposedly vegan whip. A spokesperson for Fatburger parent company FAT Brands explained that while the test locations used the non-vegan, lactose-free Reddi-Wip, the larger rollout would replace it with coconut-based vegan Reddi-Wip for a fully vegan milkshake option. The spokesperson assured VegNews that the issue is isolated to one location and will be remedied as the store transitions to the new vegan whipped cream. However, VegNews visited the store in question this weekend to find that it still only serves the non-vegan whipped cream. VegNews then visited the Beverly Hills location where an employee revealed that while they did serve the coconut-based whipped cream at that location, they intended to replace it with the non-vegan version once they run out of stock, adding that corporate headquarters sent them (and other stores) the non-vegan whipped cream to use. VegNews is working with FAT Brands to resolve this issue and advises those looking for a fully vegan, whipped cream-topped milkshake to ask employees which whipped cream they offer prior to purchase.