Updated 2020! Burger King is a global burger fast food chain. It’s based in the U.S. but has thousands of restaurants in over 100 countries. They do have many dairy-free options, and are careful about noting shared fryer and potential cross contamination issues.
The list below covers dairy-free items in the U.S., and it might be helpful for Canada, too. We were only able to find nutrition information for Canada, and were often circled back to U.S. information. However, we have included a link to the U.K. allergen chart further down in this post.
No Dairy (Milk-Based) Ingredients (see disclaimer below)
- Burgers – Whopper, Double Whopper, Whopper Jr., Impossible Whopper, Hamburger
- Chicken* – Spicy Chicken Jr., Chicken Jr., Chicken Fries, Chicken Nuggets, BBQ Bacon Crispy Chicken, Crispy Chicken
- Buns & Bread – Sesame Seed Bun, Brioche Bun
- Sides* – French Fries, Apple Slices
- Condiments & Sauces – Tomatoes, Lettuce, Pickles, White Onions, Salt & Pepper Whopper Seasoning Blend, Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Mustard, Relish, Breakfast Syrup, Grape Jam, Strawberry Jam, Tartar Sauce, Stacker Sauce, Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue Sauce
- Breakfast* – Hash Browns, French Toast Sticks, Bacon, Sausage Patty
- Kids Menu – Hamburger King Jr. Meal, Chicken Nuggets King Jr. Meal, PB&J Jamwich, Applesauce
- Desserts – Dutch Apple Pie
*All fried items are cooked in a Shared Fryer with items that contain milk and other top allergens.
Other Allergen Notes
- They go above and beyond to alert consumers of potential allergen cross contamination. In addition to their disclaimer (excerpt below), they have a column on their allergen chart specifically for “shared fryer.”
- In 2020, Burger King added the Impossible Sausage Patty to their menu, but they serve it on a dairy-filled croissant with cheese.
- They also offer a “gluten sensitive” list on their website.
- We compiled information from their allergen chart and prior ingredient lists to make the options in the above list are more clear. Information is subject to change.
Vegan Impossible Burger / Whopper
Burger King test marketed a burger with Impossible Food’s plant-based patty. The initial roll out included 59 locations in and around St. Louis, Missouri in late 2019. A Burger King spokesperson stated that it is going “exceedingly well.” As a result they are planning to roll the Impossible Whopper out nationwide this year.
More Details from Burger King
Allergen Disclaimer from Burger King: Please note that normal kitchen operations may involve some shared cooking and preparation areas and utensils, and the possibility exists that your food items may come in contact with other food products, including other allergens. Products fried in a shared fryer include but may not be limited to: Fish Filet, Pork Sausage, Crispy Chicken Patty, Chicken Nuggets, Original Chicken Patty, Spicy Original Chicken Patty, Hash Browns, French Fries, French Toast Sticks and Onion Rings. In Hawaii, Portuguese Sausage and Spam are also fried in a shared fryer. Our fryer oil contains: corn, canola, soy and/or cottonseed oils.
Restaurant Website: www.bk.com
Allergen Information for the United States: company.bk.com/services/pdf/download/allergens and company.bk.com/menu/search-by-allergen
Allergen Information for the United Kingdom: bk-emea-prd.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/www.burgerking.co.uk/files/documents/BK_Allegerns_20170620_B01.pdf
Last Updated: January 4, 2020
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What Others Are Saying ...
Dairy Free Life
I really appreciate you listing out dairy free items. It’s no fun being allergic to dairy and you’ve made it easy for me and my family to choose dairy free options. Thanks again!
Chicken Nuggets
I had a bad reaction to the chicken nuggets. I’ve never had an issue with the shared friers at other fast food chains. Approach nuggets with caution
Burger King really cares
With easy to read allergen list, you don’t have to look around to find information. Their fries are great and a family hit.
I do enjoy the chicken so thanks for not using milk in the batter.
Not everyone is in need of gluten free items. Thanks for sharing the dairy free portion of your menu! I really do enjoy a BK every once in a while.
20 Comments
I ate at Burger King yesterday and assumed that the French fries did not contain dairy. After feeling what feels like the affects of casein today, I looked on their website to find that the french fries are not okay for those with dairy allergies.
Hi Ann, please read the full post above, including the disclaimer. They are made without dairy, but there is a shared fryer cross-contamination risk as noted.
What about the new plant based burger? Does the bun have milk or eggs or any dairy in them? If so? Then the entire burger is not plant based
Hi Serena, I’ll be working on updates for the fast food listings in January and will add any new and available information at that time!
The ingredients of the Dutch Apple Pie includes “margarine.” Wouldn’t that mean it’s not dairy-free? Unless they’re using vegan margarine, milk or milk-derived ingredients are usually in margarine.
Discussion above talks about the buns containing dairy but the ingredients for sesame seed buns and potato buns don’t have milk ingredients.
This is the current (updated Oct. 2017) ingredients list website/pdf link:https://www.bk.com/pdfs/nutrition.pdf
Hi Lee, there are actually quite a few margarines, especially used in commercial, are made without dairy. Restaurants often use different sources than what you or I buy at the store, and may use different margarines in different products. We can only go by what information they provide.
Yes! The Potato and Sesame Buns are still on our “no dairy” list as the company still lists them as so. This list was updated in November, and we did review that ingredient information you linked to at that time. The info above should match that! But feel free to kindly let us know if you see a specific discrepancy. Reader feedback is always welcome to help keep things up to date! Thank you.
My “Discussion above…” statement was in reference to a comment that is below. Sorry! When entering my comment, I didn’t realize it would get pushed to the top.
Thanks for your response and hard work!
No worries, and thanks!!
Your Pork Fritter sandwich is not listed anywhere. Does the breading contain dairy or do the stores receive the fritters boxed? Is dairy on the list of ingredients?
I just bought a jr. whopper no cheese, no mayo and only ate 1/2 a roll. Within 20 minutes i had pain and nausea. I wanted to let others know that there must be dairy in the roll.
Hi Debbie, I just double-checked and all three of their bun options appear to be made without dairy. That’s not to say that there wasn’t cross-contamination at your location or it’s possible they buttered the bun?
I asked and they said all buns had dairy. I also have a dairy allergy and can get very sick.
There is! The allergen menu is WRONG! I almost did the same thing. I went in and asked. I am sorry you got sick. I could’ve gotten very sick from dairy too! I’m trying to contact the company.
Cathy
Upset costumer
Thank you for your helpful website! My infant son is allergic to dairy, eggs and peanuts, so I’m eliminating these from my diet while I’m nursing. Your website has made it easier to find menus in one place! I did want to mention that it seems the updated menu from 2015 lists the French toast sticks as dairy free! Not like they’re actually healthy, but always nice to find safe snacks 🙂 http://www.bk.com/pdfs/allergens.pdf
Thanks so much for the update on this Tracie!
To clarify… If you did have an serious allergy and were choosing to eat somewhere and had read a printed listing online or in the store (where available, only found one place I eat at that has a binder of ingredients) you would obviously want to check if these are accurate as of the current date and whether they are abiding by them; but ignoring something more concrete to solely rely on humans who may have no idea or special knowledge, but leave you thinking they are some kind of specialized internal dietary and allergen specialist wouldn’t be a great idea.
I hope they are not coating their chicken products in buttermilk and not sticking it in the ingredients listings. Or that certain locations are not altering products on their own. Makes it hard to avoid some of these allergens.
Also the ask directly. I don’t understand why people recommend this, when I used to work at a restaurant (low level, not manager or cook) I had no idea about what ingredients were in what, this stuff is all processed and made elsewhere, and why would i know what is in it. I got no indication that anyone else had read product labels backward and forward or had printed listings to reference if asked.
When I ask at a restaurant whether milk ingredients are in something i always just get a blank faced stare followed by them asking an assistant manager or manager who either responds with a blank faced stare or just guesses or says what they think, or what they think I want to hear. Personally, I don’t ever trust a human’s response. I usually just rely on the online ingredient listings and only resort to asking if I was not able find it online or forgot to look but managed to talk myself into eating somewhere on impulse.
My milk issue isn’t anaphylactic type of issue though. It’s just an eosiniphilic allergy. If I had a potentially anaphylactic type, I’d be scared to trust human responses for reasons noted above. I doubt you will often get an accurate/knowledgeable response yet people feel obligated to respond or just do so anyway and may not qualify there level of knowledge.
Just my opinion on everything.
Just FYI I was double checking the link of their allergen info. The Onion Rings do contain whey, which breaks my heart. I Love BK fresh onion rings. Well, I used to anyway 🙂 Just trying to be helpful!
I’m not sure I am understand what you are stating is dairy free from Burger King. Are you indicating that the chicken nuggets and breaded crispy chicken sandwiches are dairy free, but may be fried in oil that has been contaminated w/ dairy? If so, this is not true. I called them just yesterday, 4/20/13 and they say that their nuggets, strips, and crispy chicken sandwiches are coated with buttermilk which is obviously not dairy free. This makes me question whether the rest of the suggestions on your fast food dairy free menu options are truly dairy free.
Hi, Elenie,
Here is the allergen listing from Burger King’s website dated April 2013: http://www.bk.com/cms/en/us/cms_out/digital_assets/files/pages/MenuNutritionInformation_April2013_1.pdf
It states that, while some of their breaded chicken products contain dairy, the ones listed above do not.
You were very responsible to do what we recommend in our disclaimer: if severe allergies or intolerances are a concern, contact the restaurant directly before purchasing or consuming one of their products. Cross-contamination of potential food allergens should always be considered a possibility in a fast food restaurant.