Former Burger King Employees Offer Warnings To Customers

It’s probably safe to say that no one views fast food restaurants like Burger King as the pinnacle of healthy, fresh food. However, if you want to make the healthiest decisions possible when you find yourself pulling up to the drive-through window, it’s helpful to know what your best options are. As it turns out, former Burger King employees say there’s one menu item in particular you should steer clear of if you like your fast food as fresh as possible: the Whopper Jr.

While you may think this smaller burger is clearly healthier than the original Whopper based on size and calorie count, the freshness factor may be at stake. Read on to get the inside scoop from the people who have served the burgers themselves.

The Whopper Jr. may stand out for you when you’re browsing the Burger King menu for several reasons. Maybe you’re just craving a bit of a snack rather than the whole shebang, or maybe you’re trying to be at least a little health-conscious while choosing a fast food meal. It is, in fact, lower in calories than the original Whopper. The smaller version is cheaper, too, which may be appealing if you’re on a tight budget. However, there’s only $2 at stake here, so you may reconsider this choice when you hear the cold hard truth about the quality of this menu item, according to employees.

“Never never never buy the Whopper Jr.,” a former Burger King worker warned readers on a Reddit AMA thread. This user claimed that “not enough people buy them so they just sit out and go bad.” That means by the time you pull up to the drive you and place that rare order for a Whopper Jr., it likely won’t be very fresh. Yikes!

“They take too long to make fresh,” the former employee continued, explaining that “managers get a bonus check when they have a low enough time, so they just tell the workers to use the super old ones that have gone nasty.”

“The less popular products might not be fresh off the grill or frier. I wouldn’t order them unless you specify ‘fresh’ ones,” another commenter agreed.

Of course, you may not expect anything you order from a fast food restaurant to be fresh or healthy, so this news may not make your skin crawl in the slightest. But if you’re someone who wants their meals as fresh as possible—even if it is being served to you for a drive-through window—you’re better off just sticking with a classic Whopper over its smaller counterpart. How much of a difference can those extra calories make, anyway?