Trying to eat vegan can be difficult in Iceland, and confusing names don't help as a local woman discovered this past weekend. Bryndís Steinunn went out on Friday to get takeout for her family. Settling on a healthy option she decided to buy a Vega burger at Olís, a chain of gas stations and roadside convenience stores and grills, thinking the vega part of the name referred to the burgers being vegan.
Road-, not vegan-burger
Bryndís took to Facebook to congratulate Olís on the excellent vegan burgers. The only problem: Vega translates as road. The Vega-burger is Road-burger. Bryndís' post quickly went viral and was then picked up by local media. Bryndís told the local news site Vísir that while the whole thing was a funny misunderstand, she still felt betrayed by Olís, arguing that the name was deceptive.
Read more: Foreign traveller makes an unfortunate mistake when trying to eat vegan in Iceland
This is not the first time people are confused by confusingly named vegan foods in Iceland. In 2015 a foreign traveller thought he had found a delicious vegan cookie at a gas station. The veganesti cookie he had bought was not a vegan-esti cookie, but a vega-nesti cookie: Vega-nesti translates as road-snack.
After Bryndís' Facebook post went viral Olís announced it was going to change the Vega-burger into a proper Vegan-burger. Bryndís told Vísir that Olís had called her up to break her the news, inviting her to taste the first burger prior to its public unveiling.
Trying to eat vegan can be difficult in Iceland, and confusing names don't help as a local woman discovered this past weekend. Bryndís Steinunn went out on Friday to get takeout for her family. Settling on a healthy option she decided to buy a Vega burger at Olís, a chain of gas stations and roadside convenience stores and grills, thinking the vega part of the name referred to the burgers being vegan.
Road-, not vegan-burger
Bryndís took to Facebook to congratulate Olís on the excellent vegan burgers. The only problem: Vega translates as road. The Vega-burger is Road-burger. Bryndís' post quickly went viral and was then picked up by local media. Bryndís told the local news site Vísir that while the whole thing was a funny misunderstand, she still felt betrayed by Olís, arguing that the name was deceptive.
Read more: Foreign traveller makes an unfortunate mistake when trying to eat vegan in Iceland
This is not the first time people are confused by confusingly named vegan foods in Iceland. In 2015 a foreign traveller thought he had found a delicious vegan cookie at a gas station. The veganesti cookie he had bought was not a vegan-esti cookie, but a vega-nesti cookie: Vega-nesti translates as road-snack.
After Bryndís' Facebook post went viral Olís announced it was going to change the Vega-burger into a proper Vegan-burger. Bryndís told Vísir that Olís had called her up to break her the news, inviting her to taste the first burger prior to its public unveiling.
