File: McDonald's restaurant at Ontario and Clark Streets in Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

       McDonald’s will begin selling a vegan burger in the United Kingdom and Ireland this month.

       The McPlant burger, developed with Beyond Meat, features a plant-based patty on a vegan sesame bun with vegan cheese, vegan sauce and other toppings. Both the patty and cheese are made with pea protein.

       The Chicago-based burger giant said Thursday that vegan burgers have appeared on menus in some of its regions before. But this is the first time a vegan burger __ accredited by the Vegetarian Society __ will be sold by McDonald’s in the U.K. and Ireland.

       The McPlant will be cooked separately from other McDonald’s sandwiches with dedicated utensils. It will go on sale in 10 restaurants this month before being rolled out to 250 more later this fall. The McPlant will be sold in all McDonald’s in the U.K. and Ireland in 2022.

       The company said it decided to make the McPlant vegan to meet customer expectations in the U.K. and Ireland. It has not said when the McPlant will go on sale in the US.

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       Consumers have been waiting for McDonald’s to launch meatless burgers amid an explosion of interest in alternative proteins. Last-year, the company announced the McPlant burger would be the first product in McDonald’s nascent plant-based category that in the future could include chicken substitutes and breakfast sandwiches.

       Several fast food competitors, including Burger King with its Impossible Whopper, have rolled out plant-based burgers nationwide.

       McDonald’s announced its partnership with El Segundo, California-based Beyond Meat in February. It has also tested the McPlant burger in Denmark, Sweden and Austria, but in all of those markets, McDonald’s used regular cheese and mayonnaise, so the sandwich wasn’t vegan.

       The Chicago Tribune contributed.

       McDonald’s introducing McPlant vegan burger in UK, Ireland

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