Fast food is one of those things we can’t live without, but from the viral rumors of McDonald’s alleged “pink slime” meat to the famous “yoga mat chemical” accusation that dogged Subway bread seemingly forever, but we sure love to beat up on our faves, too.
A product of the convenience food-loving 20th century and now indispensable around the world, nothing gets the drive thru-loving public perked up like a good scandal involving their favorite chain — or the one they love to hate.
This last year alone, we’ve had a Burger King meal allegedly “spattered” with an employees blood, the firebug McDonald’s employee who started a blaze to “clear out the restaurant,” according to reports, and a widely disseminated report of Wendy’s tinkering with the concept of “dynamic” pricing, charging more for a burger depending what time of day you show up.
Which leads us to the biggest brouhaha by far, at least right now — the rising cost of a combo meal, spurred on by inflation, with numerous sensational accounts of high prices — a situation that one top executive said had him “frustrated” and “worried.”
Now, the experts at Eat This, Not That! have delved into the controversy archives — collating the clips and announcing what they’re calling the 25 “most controversial” fast food items of all time.
Number one on the list? McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets — which a scribe for the site called a “go-to” for “countless customers.”
Rightly so, they explain that the easy-to-eat fave has also been pilloried numerous times for supposedly not containing very much chicken at all.
“Rumors had long persisted that there’s a woefully small amount of chicken within each McNugget, and the topic came under intense scrutiny around 15 years ago when an image began circulating around the internet depicting a large pile of pink goop or slime supposedly called “mechanically separated poultry” used to create McNuggets,” the author wrote.
“No, our Chicken McNuggets do not contain what some people call ‘pink slime’ or ‘pink goop.’ We’ve seen the photo of ‘pink goop’ or ‘pink slime’ in association with McDonald’s. Let’s set the record straight: this image in connection with McDonald’s is a myth. In fact, we don’t know where it came from, but it’s not our food,” the statement read.
According to a 2023 survey, nearly 20 percent of Americans eat chicken nuggets on a weekly basis.
Other controversial items included Starbucks Iced Coffee, which found itself under hot lights after a BBC investigation revealed fecal bacteria in the drinks — reportedly a common issue in ice machines, the site said.
Panera’s controversial — and now 86’d — Charged Lemonades also made the list.
The high-voltage drinks, which contained well over double the caffeine of a can of Red Bull, went bye-bye from Panera menus after numerous lawsuits and even alleged deaths the said said were “tied to the extremely caffeinated beverages.”
