The Myths And Truths Behind The Horse Meat Scandal That Haunted Burger King

Burger King, known as Hungry Jacks in Australia, is best known for being the home of the Whopper, a flame-grilled hamburger topped with all the fixings. But not too long ago, the fast-food chain found itself embroiled in a scandal that led to rumors of the business serving horse meat to unsuspecting customers. While horse meat isn't technically an illegal food in the U.S., many individual states have banned its consumption. That being said, was there ever any truth to this scandal in the first place? Simply put, no. 

It all started in 2013 when horse meat was discovered in several European products, such as supermarket burgers sold at Tesco and pre-made lasagna. The contaminated beef was traced to subsidiaries of ABP Food Group, including firms Silvercrest Foods, a Burger King supplier at the time, and Dalepak Hambleton, which sold beef containing horse meat in the United Kingdom. After the revelation, Burger King cut ties with Silvercrest Foods and conducted their own investigation to determine whether beef sold at its locations had been contaminated. According to the chain, the investigation used DNA testing and found trace amounts of horse DNA found in patties at a Silvercrest food plant located in Ireland — but no contamination in meat at its restaurants. The restaurant assured customers that no horse meat was ever served at one of its locations. 

Unfortunately, the media latched on to the fact that horse DNA was found at the processing plant and subsequently spread headlines like KDVR's "Burger King admits to horse meat" and The Guardian's "Burger King reveals its burgers were contaminated in horse meat scandal." 

The internet is a haven of both knowledge and misinformation, the latter of which often spreads like wildfire thanks to clickbaity headlines on social media platforms. This is what happened with the Burger King horse meat scandal in 2015 when the website Before It's News revived it. According to Snopes, one of the outlet's articles claimed Burger King had "now admitted after continuous denial that it has actually been selling U.K. customers both burgers and Whoppers that contain horsemeat." However, Burger King never admitted to anything — the company's last statement on the matter was about its independent DNA tests and termination of its relationship with contaminated supplier Silvercrest. 

Unfortunately, this wasn't the last time this scandal would rise from the grave. In 2017, a blog post claimed the chain had once again confessed to serving horse meat. This post ended up making the rounds on Facebook, and though it was flagged as misinformation by the platform, it received over a million interactions and was shared 243,000 times. 

Why this particular story continues to return is beyond us. Regardless, the fact of the matter is that Burger King has never sold or admitted to selling horse meat disguised as beef. Now, if you want a real scandal to get behind, you can check out how Subway has been sued for skimping on ingredients and misleading customers with false advertising.