Fast food restaurants have been known to use some cost-cutting measures in the name of lower menu prices, but there are a few myths about McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other places that seem to never go away. There's no truth to any of them, but that doesn't stop people from spreading them, and the rise of social media has only made them more popular. From the rumors about KFC breeding some horrifying chicken mutants to the truth about those eggs on your Egg McMuffin, let's take a look at some popular fast food myths that you probably fell for.
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00:00Few industries have spawned as many myths and urban legends as fast food.
00:04The idea that you can order your meal and be eating it within minutes is already a bit
00:08suspicious.
00:09So let's take a crack at debunking some of the myths you've probably heard, and might
00:13still believe.
00:14Taco Bell's meat
00:18If you listen to Taco Bell haters, you might believe your beef tacos feature something
00:22other than actual meat.
00:24They've been accused of using everything from fillers to Grade D beef.
00:28"...something's not stacking up."
00:31Of course, none of it is true.
00:33Taco Bell even posted a since-deleted statement on their website, saying their beef was 88
00:37percent beef and 12 percent other products.
00:40According to USA Today, those other products are things like trehalose and yeast.
00:45And registered dietitian Catherine Talmadge told the paper that they're safe to eat, and
00:49most are used for flavor balancing and texture.
00:52And if that doesn't stop model Chrissy Teigen from eating at the Bell, you're good to go.
00:56"...and we all know I love Taco Bell."
00:59Oh, I've got one.
01:01Mama likes."
01:02KFC and the crazy chickens
01:03KFC has been the victim of so many rumors, they've devoted an entire section of their
01:08chicken-chatting website to debunking them.
01:11There's the mutant chicken myth that suggested KFC was breeding chickens with extra legs,
01:15and the KFC spider chicken myth, which suggested customers were eating chickens with eight
01:20legs and six wings.
01:22There's even the one that claimed they changed their name to KFC because they couldn't legally
01:25call their product chicken.
01:27But none of it is true.
01:28KFC sources healthy, perfectly normal, non-GMO-engineered chickens.
01:33They say their chickens have to pass both USDA standards and their own, and that less
01:37than 10 percent of chickens are, in fact…
01:40"...bigger lickin' good!"
01:43Anti-military Starbucks
01:44There are a few different stories about just how anti-military Starbucks is, and according
01:48to ThoughtCo, it all started with a viral message sent in 2004.
01:52It condemned Starbucks for refusing to donate coffee to U.S. Marines, and claimed they refused
01:57because they didn't support the war in Iraq or those fighting it.
02:00It was written by Marine Sergeant Howard C. Wright, and even though he later issued a
02:04retraction admitting that he'd been misinformed, the myth survived.
02:08According to a 2005 Starbucks newsroom release, Starbucks has not only committed to hiring
02:12thousands of veterans and active-duty spouses, they've sent coffee and donations through
02:16the American Red Cross and the United Service Organizations.
02:20They even made commitments to expand into military communities and donate a share of
02:24those store profits to charities.
02:26"...and continue to do everything we can to honor the service of the extraordinary young
02:30men and women who are wearing the cloth of the nation."
02:34Deep-fried whatever
02:35This one is so common, Snopes calls it Kentucky Fried Rat.
02:39"...is this chicken?"
02:41"...hell no.
02:43It's really impossible to turn a profit if you serve real chicken.
02:47We use mainly bats."
02:48Snopes says the story dates back to a tall tale first told in 1976, where a woman was
02:53eating KFC, discovered she was chowing down on a fried rat, then promptly succumbed to
02:58a heart attack.
02:59McDonald's was accused of serving up a chicken head in 2000, then it was a mouse at Popeyes
03:04in 2003, and then a rat at Popeyes in 2016.
03:08Snopes says there's usually not a resolution to any of these cases, and none have been
03:12confirmed as real, since official investigators are rarely allowed to examine the evidence.
03:19Wendy's chili meat
03:28Just like every other fast food joint, Wendy's has been the subject of lots of meaty drama.
03:33We'll start with the claim that their chili is made with rat or horse meat.
03:37Snopes traced the myth to satirical news site NewsBuzzDaily.com and busted it.
03:41There's also a fake story from 2016 claiming a Wendy's employee had admitted to, and we
03:46Pooping in several hundred batches of chili since 2013, which is a whole lot of dedication
03:51to a very unusual cause.
03:54The story about finding a finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili was true, but considering
03:58the person who found it later admitted to also putting it there, Snopes says you can
04:02go ahead and get your chili on.
04:05Arby's liquid meat
04:07No matter how much you love Arby's, you have to admit their roast beef has an odd texture.
04:12And that's given rise to the myth that they use liquefied meat.
04:15But in 2015, Business Insider went behind the scenes at Arby's to get the truth, which
04:19was…
04:20Zero liquid meat.
04:22Arby's brisket arrives pre-smoked and ready to slice in store, while other meats, including
04:26the roast beef, are slow-roasted on location every day.
04:29Kendra, you know what, I am going to have that third steak after all.
04:33Go ahead and put that order in now, please and thank you.
04:36Chinese takeout mystery meat
04:38According to The Guardian, this one has been around for so long it's gone from urban legend
04:43to an uncomfortable and rather racist joke.
04:46Snopes confirms the stories of cats, dogs, and even rats being served up in Chinese restaurants
04:50aren't just false, they do have racist roots.
04:53They found the myth circulating as far back as the 1850s, when Chinese immigrants began
04:57to settle in Britain and America.
04:59The story was a xenophobic, knee-jerk reaction to the clashing of two very different cultures
05:03— accusations that have even closed restaurant doors and put people out of work.
05:07So let's enjoy our pork fried rice together in peace, because it's flippin' delicious.
05:12McDonald's 100% beef ingredients
05:15This myth alleges that while McDonald's labels their meat 100% beef, you may not be eating
05:20all the usual parts of the cow.
05:22I would like to buy a hamburger.
05:25I would like to buy a hamburger.
05:28Since there's also an urban legend that McDonald's is the world's largest purchaser of cow eyeballs,
05:33Thodko looked at how cost-effective the practice would be.
05:36Spoiler!
05:37Eyeballs are more expensive than meat.
05:39The USDA also specifies any beef byproducts need to be disclosed, so McDonald's wouldn't
05:44even be able to label eyeball meat as 100% beef.
05:48Egg, I see you
05:55McDonald's fake eggs
05:57When McDonald's can consistently serve up perfectly round eggs, something has to be
06:01up, right?
06:02According to Business Insider UK, McDonald's eggs, which are genuine, are cracked right
06:07on location into egg rings that give them their perfect shape, so there's no need to
06:11worry about your perfect Egg McMuffin.
06:13Egg McMuffin!