--- title: Vegan Claims Being Poisoned For Life By Greggs Sausage Roll description: For better or worse, fake meat can look a lot like the real deal. canonical: https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-02T14:54:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T08:40:40.396Z og:title: Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version og:description: For better or worse, fake meat can look a lot like the real deal. og:url: https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ad6bc9ffc2c25c0/698a03b7db298741ea2643e7/sausageroll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2127 og:image:height: 1196 og:image:alt: Man's hand holding a cheese kransky (Carniolan) sausage roll in a white paper bag og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version twitter:description: For better or worse, fake meat can look a lot like the real deal. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ad6bc9ffc2c25c0/698a03b7db298741ea2643e7/sausageroll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=046869ef-a7fc-46d4-95a1-4f988e0f56b8&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version [Watch (HLS stream): Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LXxntY6W.m3u8) (0:56)  _Published 2019-10-02. Plant-based meat has quickly become a staple of fast food restaurant menus, giving vegetarians and curious meat eaters the option at the drive thru._ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Oct 2, 2019 2:54 PM UTC Plant-based meat has quickly become a staple of fast food restaurant menus, giving vegetarians and curious meat eaters the option at the drive thru. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Oct 2, 2019 2:54 PM UTC [Plant-based meat](https://time.com/5601980/beyond-meat-ceo-ethan-brown-interview/) has quickly become a staple of fast food restaurant menus, giving vegetarians and curious meat eaters the option at the drive thru. However, the verisimilitude of the vegetarian versions of those Whoppers and meatballs and chicken nuggets and sausages can lead to mix ups. Like when a Brooklyn Burger King [accidentally sent out](https://thetakeout.com/nyc-burger-king-beef-burgers-impossible-whoppers-1835324674) beef Whoppers instead of the vegetarian [Impossible Whopper](https://time.com/5562488/burger-king-meatless-burger/) or when a woman ordered a vegan sausage roll at Greggs and ended up with the meat version and said she was “poisoned for life”. Earlier this year, Greggs, the popular U.K. chain with some 1,900 convenience stores across the country, announced that they were releasing a [vegan version](https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2018/5454413/beyond-sausage/) of their popular sausage roll. The vegetarian version, made with the meat alternative, Quorn, was so tasty that [according to _The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/sep/03/the-vegan-halo-how-plant-based-products-are-transforming-british-brands), the vegan rolls quickly become one of Greggs top five best-selling items. Sharleen Ndungu went to a Greggs in Canterbury, England and ordered two vegan rolls, but that’s when she says things went horribly wrong. “I’m carrying on eating and my heart starts beating like madness,” [she said](https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/vegan-youtubers-video-rant-after-3360491) in a now-deleted video _Kent Online_ reports. “And then my stomach started turning upside down, I was like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on, this only happens when I consume meat’.” Ndugo, who has been vegan for two years, realized what had happened. [_According to Vice_ ](https://www.vice.com/en%5Fus/article/vb5yzb/vegan-greggs-sausage-roll-mixup), Ndungu went to tell the manager what had happened and she was offered a full refund for the rolls, which she turned down. She then called the company’s customer service line, and a rep said she could have a £30 ($36) coupon, but she declined that as well. What she wanted was a public apology for being “poisoned for life” by the sausage roll. “People \[should be\] aware that they should watch out for things like this,” she said, [according to](https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/vegan-traumatised-by-greggs-sausage-roll-blunder-212956/) Kent Online. A spokesman for Greggs confirmed to Kent Online that they are investigating the incident and are taking steps to ensure no other vegan is poisoned for life. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/"},"headline":"Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version","datePublished":"2019-10-02T14:54:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T08:40:40.396Z","description":"For better or worse, fake meat can look a lot like the real deal.","url":"https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","food and drink","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ad6bc9ffc2c25c0/698a03b7db298741ea2643e7/sausageroll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ad6bc9ffc2c25c0/698a03b7db298741ea2643e7/sausageroll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Man's hand holding a cheese kransky (Carniolan) sausage roll in a white paper bag","caption":"Sausage roll","creditText":"Simon McGill—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/","name":"Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Vegan Is Not Happy She Got the Real Sausage Roll Instead of the Plant-Based Version","description":"Plant-based meat has quickly become a staple of fast food restaurant menus, giving vegetarians and curious meat eaters the option at the drive thru.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/LXxntY6W/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-10-02T18:35:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LXxntY6W.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5690141/vegan-sausage-roll/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```