I feel like we've earned a break from the usual news chaos of tariffs and Nintendo Switch 2 pricing, so here's something fun for your Friday: IGN played Mario Kart World at a Nintendo event in New York this week, and confirmed that yes, the new Cow character can indeed eat burgers and steak, along with many other things.
If you're wondering what we're talking about, let me introduce you to the recent announcement of Mario Kart World, which included the introduction of the Moo Moo Meadows Cow as a playable racer. The internet, of course, is thrilled about this, already generating dozens of memes and fanart of the adorable Cow, who until recently was just a fun background character in a single Mario Kart track.
However, as news of Cow spread, fans began pointing out a potential issue with another element of the Mario Kart World reveal. In the Nintendo Direct 2 trailer from Wednesday, Mario eats a burger. Burgers are typically made of beef. Would Cow, whose people are ostensibly a source of beef, consume beef herself? Fans were eager to find out.
Imagine if the cow gets a transformation costume. byu/Shinuto94 inmariokart
Well, at the Nintendo preview event, we got our answer. The food items seen in the trailer are obtainable in Mario Kart World at Yoshi's diner locations scattered across courses. They function like a drive-thru, allowing racers to drive up and grab a bag of take-out just like they would an item box. There are a variety of different food items that can be inside, including burgers, steak kebabs, pizza, and donuts.
And yes, Cow can eat them all.
Yes, Cow CAN eat steak in Mario Kart World. pic.twitter.com/qN5PZ9IIM4
— IGN (@IGN) April 4, 2025
During our session, we also saw Cow consume a number of other items, including the burger. We're still a bit unclear on what these items do for Cow — other racers change costumes when consuming them, but Cow doesn't seem to experience any effects. Could she be eating beef just because she enjoys it? Is there a secret power-up she gets from burger consumption that we just don't know about yet because Nintendo hasn't revealed it? Or perhaps are these veggie burgers and Beyond meat kebabs?
IGN reached out to Nintendo to try and clear all this up, but we haven't heard back yet. I'm sure it's because they're busy at their New York event, and not because this is an unhinged question to ask their PR about. Yeah, that's probably it.
Anyway, go check out our preview of Mario Kart World, the video version of which features an appearance by our friend Cow.
