NYC Burger Chain Adopts an Unusual Alternative to Plastic Straws — and It Involves Gluten-Free Pasta

In 2015, a group of sea turtle experts sailing off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica came across an Olive Ridley turtle that seemed peculiarly at unease. When they took a closer look, they clasped their mouths in shock. A plastic straw was lodged inside the turtle’s nose, choking off its breath. A viral video showed how they removed the straw from its mouth while the turtle’s blood smeared their tables. Thanks to videos like these, organizations are becoming aware of the deadly hazard of plastic pollution that lingers on the planet today. Super Duper Burgers (@superduperburgers), the San Francisco-based burger chain, collaborated with a company to eliminate the plastic pollution generated by straws. This company makes “pasta straws.”

According to Tembo Paper, an estimated 500 million straws are dumped every day, and more than 25 billion in a year. Sticking out of the landfills and dumpsters, these straws take hundreds, sometimes thousands of years, to fully decompose. While they sit in heaps of trash and mounds of rubble, they spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. When rains fall, some of these pipey objects are washed away. Dribbling through slopes, streams, and canals, they enter the bellies of oceans, where they cling and latch on to the sea animals, choking them to death.

Pasta Life, a company based in New York City, makes “premium gluten-free pasta straws,” which are currently popular among restaurants, fast food chains, and people alike. The straws are fully compostable and don’t become soggy in the liquid, unlike the conventional paper or cardboard straws. In a Reddit post timestamped “March 11, 2025,” user u/bb-baxter shared an image of a customer dining in a Super Duper burger chain restaurant, with these pasta straws dipped in the beverage tumblers.

The picture was shot in the restaurant interiors, laid out with a row of barstools and tables. On one table is a customer with their hand curled around a beverage sipper. A similar sipper is perched on the countertop, its plastic cup revealing a frothy brown beverage inside, topped with nuts. Dunked inside the straw holes of both the sippers are mustard-colored straws. Alongside the lone sipper, there’s a slinky white paper packet that reads “Gluten-free pasta straws” with the brand names “Super Duper” and “Pasta Life” in bold, red letters.

“At Super Duper, we’re all about less waste. We wanna keep things super simple and super sustainable. That’s why we’ve partnered with our friends at @pastalife_, whose zero-waste, gluten-free, and home-compostable straws help us keep our packaging 100% compostable. Thank you, Pasta Life, for helping us celebrate every sip towards a cleaner planet,” the burger chain wrote in an Instagram caption.

On the website, Pasta Life claims that their “pasta straws” are 100% marine biodegradable and home compostable, which means they break down in your backyard in less than 90 days. “Say fahgettaboudit to paper and bio plastic straws,” the company exclaims. The pastas have been whipped up from tasteless, gluten-free ingredients, including rice flour and corn starch. They are more durable, long-lasting, and harder than plastic.

“I’ve been to a place that did the pasta straws, and it holds up significantly better than you’d think. We hung around for like 2 hours and it was still fine,” Reddit user u/WestCoastBestCoast01 commented. u/food-dood joked, “Great, now our bodies will be filled with micropastas.” u/chudpaladin exclaimed, “Can’t wait to drink my coffee with the new pasta straw!”

Other users reflected on how pasta is such a remarkable alternative to plastic straws. “That's actually so smart, it's biodegradable and isn't annoying,” said u/OrangeCreamPupper. u/Abyttleplants wrote, “That's miles better than cardboard straws tbh.” u/MRbaconfacelol quipped, “Better than paper, you can even eat them when you are done if you want!”