Here’s why Deliveroo says there are crustaceans and molluscs in Burger King’s Festive BBQ King

Burger King made the news this week when they did something nice. On Facebook, they urged people to order from McDonald’s or any other restaurant during this troubling time so that the industry might survive.

I wanted to show support to Burger King by ordering my first BK in years. They’re on Deliveroo so I placed my order for Festive BBQ King.

I was really looking for a big burger without bacon or salad. I’m one of those freaks who doesn’t like salad in their burgers, and while I love crispy bacon, floppy bacon ruins a burger, so I was trying to get into the guts of the system and configure what I wanted. Sadly, there was no such perfection option at Burger King.

I was even more surprised at the ingredients Deliveroo listed for the Festive BBQ King.

On the surface, the Festive BBQ King has two flame-grilled beef patties, American cheese, smokey, smoked bacon, mayo and 5 golden onion rings. Sounds nice, right?

The contents list was odd, though! Starting with celery, but including crustaceans (crabs, et al) and molluscs (snails, cuttlefish, squid et al). These are important allergens for some people, and unpopular food items for others.

There’s good news for people who like the BBQ from Burger King but aren’t too keen on seafood. Burger King’s UK site adds a little more explanation.

While Burger King isn’t listing their Festive BBQ King yet, they do list the Roadhouse Crispy Chicken, and this is another burger that may have crustaceans and molluscs in it. We discover here that it probably doesn’t, but the burger was cooked on the same equipment that might have been used for seafood.

I believe Burger King does sometimes offer Shrimp Burgers so perhaps that’s why there’s a risk in the first place.

There’s a handy allergens chart (PDF link) linked to from this King Fish page which confirms none of the standard menu items contain crustaceans or molluscs, and yet the risk of cross-contamination from the cooking process remains.

Deliveroo, however, doesn’t say whether an ingredient is a cross-contamination risk or not, it merely includes the ingredient if there’s a chance it could be there.