McDonald's and the kangaroo meat urban legend
Andrew L. Betz III
firm that received cargo from overseas noticed that an
unusual shipment of skinned kangaroos were destined for
a McDonald's processing plant. Somewhat disturbed, the guy
called in either the news media or the Food and Drug
Administration inspectors. I never did hear any followup
to this thing, so I have always assumed that it was
urban legend all the way. Again, it does seem to stick
out in my mind that Newsweek mentioned it, but only from
the standpoint of covering the reaction of the population.
I can't documemt this without looking it up, though (too
much effort -- heh! that's why urban legends are so much
FUN!). This was circa 1984-1985 according to my infinitely
fallible memory store.
BTW, thanks for all the email tips on locating 'Dykes on
Bikes.' I'll look some of them up and post a followup
later. Still no luck on the Society for the Preservation
of Red M&Ms. I think I might have seen an ad to join
this group in The Nation circa 1987. I'll look for that,
too.
Drew
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John W. Keating
>[Story about kangaroo meat in fast food burgers deleted for brevity's sake.]
>...... This was circa 1984-1985 according to my infinitely
>fallible memory store.
I remember hearing this way bakc around '77 when I was in third grade...
I wonder just where this rumor started...
JWKIII
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Andy Burnett
The rumor/story that came around when I was in Junior School was that
McDonald's used worms in their hamburger. Anyone else hear this? Rumor had
it that McDonald's also had a reward out for any information that led to the
identity of the person(s) responsable for starting this rumor.
--
---------------------------------
&y Burnett |
bur...@mentor.cc.purdue.edu |
Jack Campin
bet...@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Andrew L. Betz III) wrote:
> The story (as I recall it) went that somebody in a shipping
> firm that received cargo from overseas noticed that an
> unusual shipment of skinned kangaroos were destined for
It's a pity it might not be true. Kangaroo meat is far lower in gross fat,
saturated fat, and cholesterol than beef, don't have added hormones, and
isn't subjected to the "mechanical recovery" processes that produce most of
the beef used by the sausage and burger makers (blast the remains of a
carcass with a firehose to strip off shreds of meat, spinal cord, gristle,
eyeballs...). Kangaburgers would be a damn sight healthier than Big Macs.
--
-- Jack Campin Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank
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Richard Hagen
in isolated parts of the country do it quite regularly...
richard
Barry Shein
>The problem with this story is that kangaroo meat is quite ok to eat! People
>in isolated parts of the country do it quite regularly...
Yes, but not when you're advertising as 100% beef. I hear some species
of African termites are a favorite also (in Africa) but I think most
people would rather not find them in their burgers.
Ok, another McD's "possibly urban legend"
When they say "100% Beef" it simply means that 100%
of that part of the hamburger which must be meat by
law is beef (that is, no pork etc.)
That is to say, as little as 30% would be beef and the
rest can be filler. It doesn't mean that there is nothing
but beef in that burger as the phrase would seem to imply.
Urban legend? Or FDA law? you be the judge...
--
-Barry Shein
Software Tool & Die | {xylogics,uunet}!world!bzs | b...@world.std.com
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br...@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
> The rumor/story that came around when I was in Junior School was that
> McDonald's used worms in their hamburger. Anyone else hear this? Rumor had
> it that McDonald's also had a reward out for any information that led to the
> identity of the person(s) responsable for starting this rumor.
Yes, this rumor circulated in the winter/spring of 1980 in Kansas
City. My 8th grade English teacher took *tremendous* umbrage at the
legend, since her fater apparently worked for the company that really
did supply meat for McDonalds (ostensibly 100% pure beef).
As for the kangaroo meat rumor, that one circulated in KC slightly
later ('84 or 85, I believe it was). However, Jack in the Box was the
chain accused of the foul deed. They fueled the rumor themselves by
going out of business (at least locally) shortly thereafter.
Another fast-food legend that we all religiously believed was the
story that the original Ronald McDonald had been fired by the
corporation because he was a homosexual. I recall that Dr. Brunvand
'disproves' this one in one of his books. Nonetheless, it made Micky
D's the butt of some crude jokes, including a half-finished song
entitled "Gropin' the Grimmace."
- Bryan
Bret A. Marquis
>The problem with this story is that kangaroo meat is quite ok to eat! People
>in isolated parts of the country do it quite regularly...
>
There is a tale (which is why its being posted here) that Jack in the
Box used to have much leaner meats and used a soya filler to help the
profit margin a bit. They were found out and when complaints came in
about 'non meat' fillers in the hamburger, they gave up and went to 100%
beef. Snouts, ears, eyes, gristle, etc but its all beef.
Bret Marquis
crash!bang!bam
Brian Gordon
>
> The rumor/story that came around when I was in Junior School was that
>McDonald's used worms in their hamburger. Anyone else hear this? Rumor had
>it that McDonald's also had a reward out for any information that led to the
>identity of the person(s) responsable for starting this rumor.
A recent discussion (here?) pointed out that since worm meat costs
substantially more per pound than beef, it wasn't real likely to be used to
"stretch" the beef ...
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Terry Chan
-In article <13...@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, bur...@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Andy Burnett) writes:
-> The rumor/story that came around when I was in Junior School was that
-> McDonald's used worms in their hamburger. Anyone else hear this? Rumor had
-> it that McDonald's also had a reward out for any information that led to the
-> identity of the person(s) responsable for starting this rumor.
-
-Yes, this rumor circulated in the winter/spring of 1980 in Kansas
-City. My 8th grade English teacher took *tremendous* umbrage at the
-legend, since her fater apparently worked for the company that really
-did supply meat for McDonalds (ostensibly 100% pure beef).
-
-As for the kangaroo meat rumor, that one circulated in KC slightly
-later ('84 or 85, I believe it was). However, Jack in the Box was the
-chain accused of the foul deed. They fueled the rumor themselves by
-going out of business (at least locally) shortly thereafter.
-
-Another fast-food legend that we all religiously believed was the
-story that the original Ronald McDonald had been fired by the
-corporation because he was a homosexual. I recall that Dr. Brunvand
-'disproves' this one in one of his books. Nonetheless, it made Micky
-D's the butt of some crude jokes, including a half-finished song
-entitled "Gropin' the Grimmace."
-
- - Bryan
As a followup, Brunvand's first book, *The Vanishing Hitchhiker*
did cover the MacDonald's controvery including kangaroo meat and
worms. Their edibility notwithstanding, a general knock against
those stories has been the (generally) much higher cost of using
kangaroo or worm meat as a filler or substitute.
The "Kentucky Fried Rat" is also discussed. Quite fun dropping
into this newsgroup after lunch at Mickey D's today no less . . .
--
Terry Chan | "I see nooothing...I know nooothing..."
Internet: twc...@lbl.gov |
Bitnet: twc...@lbl.bitnet | - Sgt. Schulz
John Eaton
< The rumor/story that came around when I was in Junior School was that
< McDonald's used worms in their hamburger. Anyone else hear this?
Also heard that McD's took out ad's debunking this rumor by showing that
pound for pound worm meat was more expensive than beef. Makes sense when
you consider how hard it it to herd worms.
John Eaton
!hpvcfs1!johne
Kevin Kuhn
>
>Another fast-food legend that we all religiously believed was the
>story that the original Ronald McDonald had been fired by the
>corporation because he was a homosexual. I recall that Dr. Brunvand
>'disproves' this one in one of his books. Nonetheless, it made Micky
>D's the butt of some crude jokes, including a half-finished song
>entitled "Gropin' the Grimmace."
I heard this story from one of the cameramen on the original McDonald
land commercials. He told me that McDonalds did fire the original
Ronald McDonald because he was gay.
To paraphrase the cameraman, "You know, a clown's a clown. But you
know to them kids, they took away the real Ronald McDonald and put in
a fake one. They got so many complaints they had to hire the original
one back. I filmed them both, hell, I couldn't tell the difference between
the two, a clown's a clown you know, but them kids........."
Kevin
--
=<standard.disclaimer>==========================================================
Kevin Kuhn ke...@mips.com
MIPS Computer Systems {ames,decwrl,prls,pyramid}!mips!kevin
Michael Newton
>As a followup, Brunvand's first book, *The Vanishing Hitchhiker*
>did cover the MacDonald's controvery including kangaroo meat and
>worms. Their edibility notwithstanding, a general knock against
>those stories has been the (generally) much higher cost of using
>kangaroo or worm meat as a filler or substitute.
maybe if u buy gourmet, legally fit for human consumption kangaroo, but
thats not very likely. As someone has pointed out, kangaroo *was*
exported as beef some years back, causing mucho scandale when
discovered. The kangaroos (much as u and i may disagree) are deemed
pests and shot wild, the fur is used for all kindsa fur things, the
japanese buy their kangaroo scrotum purses, and the meat is mostly sold
as pet food. The health standards applied to meat for pet food are
considerably laxer than those applying to meat for human consumption.
The laxer were the standards under which the offending meat made its way
to the docks, then it mysteriously became beef for human consmption.
personally id be happy to buy the odd kangaroo steak if it was (i)
farmed (ii) produced under the proper health regs and (iii) not
outrageously expensive. Im not nec objecting to hunting per se, but the
evidence of what are acceptable quotas is not unimpeachable. Also farmed
kangaroos would presumably do less damage to the land than cattle. Of
course you'd need very tall fences :-)
--
"Many wars results from aggression" The Guardian, Sat 25th August 1990
<kimba> aka Michael Newton
Kim Dyer
s:
>>The problem with this story is that kangaroo meat is quite ok to eat! People
>>in isolated parts of the country do it quite regularly...
>>
>There is a tale (which is why its being posted here) that Jack in the
>Box used to have much leaner meats and used a soya filler to help the
>profit margin a bit. They were found out and when complaints came in
>about 'non meat' fillers in the hamburger, they gave up and went to 100%
>beef. Snouts, ears, eyes, gristle, etc but its all beef.
The thing about using soy fillers for meat is some people are VIOLENTLY
allergic to soy products. One friend of mine could easily DIE from eating
a single soy-burger. (She was, in fact, hospitalized once because she
took a bite of a burger before realizing it was "enhanced".) While snouts,
and other beef filler may be unpalitable to think about, if you can eat
beef they will not cause you harm. The Big Boy that served the soy-burger
(after assuring my friend it was 100% beef) had to do some fancy peddling
to avoid a major lawsuit and publicity problem.
Janet Christian
Wait a minute. Wasn't the original Ronald McDonald the *famous* Willard
Scott. Weather man par excellence, who knows nothing about the weather?
The one who always wishes people a happy 100th birthday? The one who
finally told Bryant Gumbel where to put it???
--
____*_ Janet Christian ju...@indetech.com
\ / / Independence Technologies {sun,sharkey,pacbell}!indetech!juser
\/ / 42705 Lawrence Place FAX: 415 438-2034
\/ Fremont, CA 94538 Voice: 415 438-2054
M Darrin Chaney
>Wait a minute. Wasn't the original Ronald McDonald the *famous* Willard
>Scott. Weather man par excellence, who knows nothing about the weather?
>The one who always wishes people a happy 100th birthday? The one who
>finally told Bryant Gumbel where to put it???
I believe so. Didn't he lose the Ronald job because he was too fat?
Darrin
mdchaney@iubacs
mdch...@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu
mdch...@rose.ucs.indiana.edu
Gregory G. Woodbury
>
>Wait a minute. Wasn't the original Ronald McDonald the *famous* Willard
>Scott. Weather man par excellence, who knows nothing about the weather?
>The one who always wishes people a happy 100th birthday? The one who
>finally told Bryant Gumbel where to put it???
Yes, thank you for getting the tidbit that was tickling my mind and not
coming forth of its own. Willard Scott (of NBC TV fame) was the
original Ronald McDonald!
I also have around here (somewhere) a news report from _The_Advocate_
reporting a court injunction that McDonalds Corp got somewhere in
California against a former R.McD. actor prohibiting him from "saying
that R.McD is gay".
It is well known that there are several actors that have played R.M.
from time to time (since Willard Scott got canned) and it *seems*
reasonable to expect that the actor in the role may have been gay. This
IS quite different from saying that R.M. is a gay character. As much as
I dislike McDCo for insisting on the distinction, it is their character
to play with.
--
Gregory G. Woodbury @ The Wolves Den UNIX, Durham NC
UUCP: ...dukcds!wolves!ggw ...mcnc!wolves!ggw [use the maps!]
Domain: g...@cds.duke.edu ggw%wol...@mcnc.mcnc.org
[The line eater is a boojum snark! ] <standard disclaimers apply>
Michael Paddon
> I remember hearing this way bakc around '77 when I was in third grade...
> I wonder just where this rumor started...
There was a big fuss many years ago when it was found that some unscrupulous
Australian meat exporters were substituting various low grade meats (ie.
pet food type stuff) for the beef they were supposed to be shipping overseas.
I don't 100% remember if roo meat was involved but I suspect so (kangaroos
breed fast and they are quite a pest, so there are always lots of carcasses
available).
This is definitely a true story, and it got heaps of media coverage because
the damage to the meat export market was substantial. McDonalds was never
linked, even as unwitting buyer, with this scam however.
Michael
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Dylan Rhodes
>Scott. Weather man par excellence, who knows nothing about the weather?
>The one who always wishes people a happy 100th birthday? The one who
>finally told Bryant Gumbel where to put it???
>--
>____*_ Janet Christian ju...@indetech.com
No.
I think (and I'm most assuredly wrong about this) that Willard Scott
was the original Bozo, or something like that.
Dylan Rhodes
no .sig
hoehne...@hotmail.com
Mark Shaw
> Kangaro meat got into the US beef supply by way of Australia back
> in 1981. McD's was chucking frozen beef patties in the dumpster
> nation wide. Put two and two together, it's not rocket science.
> The FDA tracked the meat from importer to processor. They kmow
> where the meat ended up but not exactly which meat patties got for
> sure. McD's can always claim it's a urban legend. It's not. The
> USAFDA says otherwise.
> https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/26/us/australian-meat-will-be-inspected.html
--
Mark Shaw moc TOD liamg TA wahsnm
========================================================================
"All of my mistakes are giving me ideas." - Natalie Lileks
Lee Ayrton
> hoehne...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>> Kangaro meat got into the US beef supply by way of Australia back
>> in 1981. McD's was chucking frozen beef patties in the dumpster
>> nation wide. Put two and two together, it's not rocket science.
>> The FDA tracked the meat from importer to processor. They kmow
>> where the meat ended up but not exactly which meat patties got for
>> sure. McD's can always claim it's a urban legend. It's not. The
>> USAFDA says otherwise.
>> https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/26/us/australian-meat-will-be-inspected.html
>
> That's a 404. Of course.
>
year old post.
How to they find them? Did hoehnert2011 grep for "kangaroo meat"?
Drew Lawson
>hoehne...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>> Kangaro meat got into the US beef supply by way of Australia back
>> in 1981. McD's was chucking frozen beef patties in the dumpster
>> nation wide. Put two and two together, it's not rocket science.
>> The FDA tracked the meat from importer to processor. They kmow
>> where the meat ended up but not exactly which meat patties got for
>> sure. McD's can always claim it's a urban legend. It's not. The
>> USAFDA says otherwise.
>> https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/26/us/australian-meat-will-be-inspected.html
>
>That's a 404. Of course.
The article makes no meantion of McDonalds, and is primarily about
Australian horse meat that reached a processing plant that supplies
Jack in the Box.
There was kangaroo meat found "in beef shipments destined for the
United States," but no claim that any made it through.
Also, hoehnert2011 might wish to know that there is no USAFDA, and
that the FDA/USFDA is not involved in meat sales. That is the
Department of Agriculture.
Drew "2 + 2 = neigh" Lawson
--
Drew Lawson | Though it's just a memory,
| some memories last forever
Mark Shaw
Lee Ayrton
> Lee Ayrton <lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>> On 3/18/2020 11:34 AM, Mark Shaw wrote:
>>> hoehne...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>>>> https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/26/us/australian-meat-will-be-inspected.html
>>>
>>> That's a 404. Of course.
>
>> I'm always surprised when someone follows up to a 20, or in this case 30
>> year old post.
>
>> How to they find them?
>
> Google Groups.
>
Mikgmx
But grepping is beyond the loons nowadays.
Cheers,
Michael "except for Archimedes Plutonium pupils" Kuettner