While no one expects fast food offerings to be the epitome of healthy eating, there are options at your favorite chain that are healthier than others. Wendy’s, for example, offers many salads and grilled chicken choices while still providing notoriously unhealthy items like the whopping, calorie-heavy Pretzel Bacon Pub Triple Cheeseburger or the Bacon Jalapeño Cheeseburger Triple. One popular menu item from the iconic fast food eatery, however, is causing customers on social media to raise their eyebrows for its dubbed “concerning,” “gross,” and “questionable” ingredients.
It turns out the Wendy’s chili is made using a what some people believe to be a seriously sketchy method. This was revealed by TikTok creator @mr.wamby, a Wendy’s employee who provided viewers with a shocking inside look into the process—and it involves using old, dry, leftover beef patties. While this may be an unsettling sight, it can also lead to serious health consequences. To learn more, we asked health experts Lisa Richards, nutritionist and creator of the Candida Diet, and Dr. David Culpepper, MD from LifeMD to weigh in. Read on to learn why they say it’s best you never order this menu item again.
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Health effects of Wendy’s questionable chili
In @mr.mawby’s video (which has been deleted from TikTok since it was uploaded this March but can still be found on YouTube) the user is seen pouring out a tray of old-looking, pre-cooked beef patties into a box. Water is then added before the box contents are heated in a microwave. The worker then drained the water and ground the meat with a spatula to resemble the recognizable beef seen in the typical chili dish. The meat was then added in a plastic bag and stored in a fridge. “It goes in the fridge for a few days after this,” the post’s caption read.
Thousands took to the TikTok comment section to express their surprised reactions and disgust. “I could’ve gone the rest of my life without knowing this,” one user wrote, as another added, “I just had some yesterday…I feel sick bruh.”
But while many find the process unappetizing, does it raise many health concerns? Health experts give a resounding yes!
For one, fast food burgers are never the healthiest option in the first place. “It’s shocking to learn that Wendy’s ‘recycles’ old burger patties to make their chili,” Dr. Culpepper says, noting that “even when used for their original, intended purpose—and I can’t believe I had to use that phrase in reference to burgers—the patties are loaded with fat, cholesterol, and sodium.”
“Those that frequently consume fast food, especially meat-based products, run the risk of multiple health issues,” Richards agrees, listing cardiovascular concerns, high cholesterol, weight gain, high blood pressure, heart disease, and even cancer as possible complications.
Of course, no one is going to Wendy’s for a healthy meal. But when you combine these already unhealthy patties with the fact that they’ve likely been sitting out all day, Dr. Culpepper says it’s practically an illness waiting to happen. “Eating meat in general carries a certain risk of foodborne illness,” Dr. Culpepper explains. “Taking old burgers, chopping them up and making them into a new dish seems like it’s begging for an outbreak of food poisoning, or worse. Knowing what I know now, I would never eat Wendy’s chili, or advise anyone else to eat it.” Noted!
Richards agrees that this process can easily cause a foodborne illness, going on to say that there are two major concerns at hand. “One, they are likely past their expiration date, which means they may contain pathogenic bacteria,” she says. “Two, they may have spent more time in the temperature danger zone than what is allotted, which means they are at risk for growing pathogens that lead to foodborne illness as well.”
Potential pathogens you may be putting into your body when you eat this chili include E. coli, campylobacter, salmonella, and staphylococcus aureus, among others. “These can cause both short and long term side effects, the most common being diarrhea, fever, chills, and vomiting,” Richards warns. Yikes!
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However, it doesn’t seem like Wendy’s—or many of their customers—are too concerned with the health risks. For them, it’s mostly about saving money. Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas’s biography, Dave’s Way, made the idea of Wendy’s “recycling” old patties public knowledge back in 1991. Thomas discussed this as a money-saving technique for the chain, which made sense to some of the TikTok viewers who could care less about the possible health complications. “No fast food is gonna be five stars so I don’t care,” wrote one as another chimed in, saying, “I’d honestly rather them do this than throw them all away.” Someone else replied to a comment about “saving the patties,” acknowledging that while this can help save money and beef, “that doesn’t mean I want to eat old food in my chili.”
Dr. Culpepper shares a similar sentiment: “I understand that the fast food business is about the bottom line, and customers expect that fast food restaurants will use inexpensive ingredients,” he says. “But recycling old burgers seems to take thrift to the point of cynicism, or worse. I would advise Wendy’s to find a better way to make their chili. Shouldn’t be hard.”
To each their own, of course—but if you’re looking for a menu item with less health risks involved, Dr. Culpepper suggests a baked potato. “Adding sour cream and chives would add some protein and a bit of greenery without too much fat,” he recommends.
Richards suggests opting for a salad instead of the chili. “[Wendy’s] salad menu has grown and includes great options like Southwest Avocado, Parmesan Cesar, and the Apple Pecan,” she says, noting that these menu items “contain nutrient rich ingredients and present a lower risk of foodborne illness” than the chili and burgers. She gives a warning for the Taco Salad, though: “I would not recommend the Taco Salad which contains tortilla chips and taco meat, which is also made from their leftover patties.”
Of course, at the end of the day, what you choose to put in your body is your business—and if that happens to be Wendy’s chili, we won’t hold you back! Regardless of whether or not you choose to eat this controversial menu item, we can likely all agree that it’s always interesting—and often unsettling—to know what goes on behind the closed doors of fast food restaurants. And with so many views on that video, it’s safe to say that the internet eats it up (literally).
