We all know fast food can be a little unpredictable. After all, who can forget recent reports about rat DNA turning up in hamburgers sold at fast-food chains or last year’s report of human DNA in hot dogs and meat in veggie dogs?!
But let’s be real, most of us eat fast food at some point or another — and a recent Reddit thread got a lot of people talking about their experiences.
Users claiming to be current and former fast-food employees started a Reddit thread titled “Fast food workers-What should we never order from you?” to warn you away from potential food-safety issues at a variety of chains.
Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t note that many of the businesses discussed are franchises and not all franchises have the same standards or rules. So your results may vary at your local fast-food restaurant.
That said, we’ve combed through the top 200 comments on Reddit and pulled out some real doozies. Some of these posts will give a new meaning to the phrase ‘mystery meat.’
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10 fast food menu items you probably don’t want to order
Sonic
‘Don’t get the chili. It comes in a bag, gets warmed up in a metal tub and then sits for 10 hours until we run out and replace it’ — AntProtein
‘The Philly steak meat was never ordered fast enough, so it would often go bad and not get thrown away until easily a month after expiration. Usually when it started to noticeably smell bad.’ — TheFlyingBeagle
Wendy’s
‘The chili is fine, yes it’s old burger patties that didn’t sell but that’s what you’re supposed to do with leftover hamburger.’ — Umbreonnnnn
‘My brother’s girlfriend used to work at Wendy’s and a saying there was (about fries): ‘They aren’t old until they’re sold.” — Wrinklestiltskin
Chick-fil-A
‘Don’t order a standard salad at night, it was probably made that morning. Request something else on it and it’ll be fresh.’ — SwagSorcerer
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Carl’s Jr.
Worked at Carl’s Jr (or Hardee’s for you east coast peeps). Chicken Tenders. We were supposed to throw them out after 20 minutes. We were told not to do that. We would sometimes serve 1-2 hour old tenders.’ — i_Ryan
McDonald’s
‘When I worked there in Canada, McDonald’s grilled chicken could sit there for a long time….I’ve done a 4 hour shift and just forgot to throw out the old grilled chicken and make new ones because nobody ordered it, and it had already went past the timer when I got on so there was no beeping to remind me. It sounds stupid and it was. We’re all human and humans are dumb, though.’ — CaseyTwist
Boston Market
‘I used to work at Boston Market. They’re pretty good. The only thing I can think of is that any chicken that isn’t on the bone (sandwich, pot pie, etc) is day old, or more, leftover chicken.’ — haibanegatsu
Del Taco
‘I use to work at Del Taco. Just don’t order anything from us. Jesus… I can still hear their screams when I close my eyes.’ — FATBIRD333
Subway
‘I just left my shift at Subway. Our grilled chicken apparently was ‘pink’ according to the guy who called the restaurant. It’s already cooked and we still have problems with it.’ — Firecrackers
‘At our Subway, The ‘oven roasted’ chicken was actually boiled in a microwave.’ — Hotpotabo
Chipotle
‘Currently a service manager at chipotle. All peppers, lettuce, and tomatoes now come pre shredded and washed. Steak also now is pre cooked (well heated in hot water before being shipped to us).. Really the only in house prep we still do is dicing onions and jalapeños and making guac. Everything else is coming pre shredded and ready to serve at a central kitchen. Edit: no changes to chicken. Chicken and steak is still cooked on the grill. Chicken is still in house marinated. Steak is in house marinated as well just comes pre heated already and when we throw it on the grill it’s only for 30 seconds each side.’ — soflopaintball
7-Eleven
‘I used to work at 7-11, so i’m gonna say any of the taquitos or hotdogs around midnight, up through about 4 or 5AM. Around midnight you can be almost assured that these are now high-mileage. That hotdog might have more miles than your car.’ — novelty_bone
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