Wendy’s Uses Horse Meat in Chili and Burgers-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
The USDA has discovered that Wendy’s uses horse meat in chili and other food.
The Truth:
Wendy’s doesn’t add horse meat to its chili, or to any other food.
That false report started with the fake news website Empire News. Back in November 2014, the website reported that Wendy’s uses horse meat in its burgers, chili and other menu items:
“Where’s the Beef?!” was a popular phrase in the 80s, based on the 1984 TV commercial for Wendy’s restaurants featuring little old ladies sampling other restaurant’s menu items. Apparently the answer to the question is, ironically,not at Wendy’s. At a press conference this morning, Wendy Thomas, daughter of founder Dave Thomas, and president of operations Carl Frosty admitted that mounting internet rumors are true, and that Wendy’s stopped using beef in their burgers back in 1984.
“It’s true – the 1984 ‘Where’s the Beef’ ad was an inside joke started by my father. I really don’t see the big deal, honestly,” said Thomas. “Horse meat is FDA approved, is has been for ages. If you’ve enjoyed our burgers any time in the last 30 years, there’s no reason not to keep enjoying them. My father was a businessman; he experimented to find the cheapest, yet best tasting meat he could. He tried dog, cat, llama, and rats in our testing labs, but horse meat was the tastiest and the cheapest. It’s even less expensive than beef, if you can believe it.”
The story reporting that the 1984 “Where’s the Beef?” ad was a subtle reference to the fact that Wendy’s had started using horse meat in its chili and burgers has been shared thousands of times on social media sites.
Many of the people who shared and read the story were tricked into believing that Wendy’s uses horse meat and has since the 1980s, but that’s not the case. The disclaimer for Empire News states that the site is for “entertainment purposes only” so it shouldn’t be considered a trusted news source.