Fast food is one of those guilty pleasures you know you’re not supposed to eat, but by Jove, sometimes you want it so badly. There’s nothing quite like the MSG-enhanced flavor of your favorite burger, pizza, sandwich, or hot dog on a stick.
It’s not going to kill you to eat fast food every once in a while, but there are a few items that you should never eat. They may contain horribly artificial ingredients, contain nothing in the way or nutrition, or be prepared in a truly foul manner. You’d be surprised to find out which foods are on this list.
Below is a list of some of the worst fast food items for you to order. The gross-factor on some of these bad boys will blow your mind, such as the item topping our list: Wendy’s Chili, made from meat scraped off the grill, frozen, and cooked. Yuck.
1. Wendy’s Chili
Wendy’s may make a mean hamburger, but never order the chili. According to Wendy’s workers, the meat used to make the chili is scraped off the grill, stored in the warming drawer, and frozen overnight. It is then defrosted and used to make the chili you put into your mouth. Absolutely foul!
2. Chipotle Quesarito
Both quesadillas and burritos are absolutely delicious, but the combination tastes suspiciously like day-old socks. The Chipotle Quesarito is made with congealed cheese barely heated above freezing temperature, dried and reconstituted refried beans, prepared by people who have no desire to put this complex order together.
3. Anything with Eggs
Most fast food joints will offer some sort of egg breakfast muffin/sandwich, but do you really think they contain anything remotely resembling eggs? The eggs used are almost always powdered and reconstituted with a bit of water when it comes time to make your sandwich. Whether it’s the Egg McMuffin or the Burger King Ham, Cheese, and Egg Sandwich, say NO to fast food eggs!
4. Dunkin’ Donuts Doughnuts
Dunkin’ Donuts is supposed to be one of the top doughnut chains in the country, but they’ve got nothing on Krispy Kreme or any of the other chains. Did you know that the doughnuts are not made fresh, but they are baked, frozen, and delivered to the stores – where they are reheated and placed beneath a heat lamp in a vain attempt to make them look palatable? Any doughnut is better than a Dunkin’ Donut.
5. KFC BBQ Shredder
If you want real pulled chicken, go to a Cuban restaurant, but never KFC! The pulled chicken is soaked in a sugary juice to allow the muscle fibers to separate, and only after it has sat for hours is it cooked. It’s definitely one of the least healthy items on the menu, not to mention one of the most highly processed and artificial. Check out what this KFC employee had to say, “The BBQ sandwich is actually made from chicken too old and stale to give to the homeless shelters, so they soak it in BBQ sauce until it can be pulled and then they keep it on the heater for a month.”
6. Panera Pastas
While Panera may do a mean sandwich, you’ll want to stay away from the pastas. The restaurant claims to use “only fresh ingredients”, but their pastas are made with exclusively frozen and defrosted items. Even the fresh ingredients used in the sandwiches are suspect.
7. Fast Food Beans
Unless you can see the pot of beans simmering on the stove, you can bet your boots that fast food beans are almost always made with dried bean powder. Add a bit of water and some heat, and you have the swill that fast food joints serve as refried beans. One Taco Johns employee said, “I would steer clear of the beans, at least outside of peak hours, because they sit on the hot table for a long long time and when they dry out, just add water.” No nutrition, all the gas-producing enzymes, and a whole lot of yuck.
8. Taco Bell Steak and Beans
Not only is this wrap filled with the insulting substance that they call beans (dried, powdered, and reconstituted beans), but one employee commented on the steak, saying “If it would sit too long it would become like hair gel.” See what happens when you leave the meat out for a while (HINT: it melts. Meat shouldn’t melt!). Don’t even get me started on the highly processed stuff they try to pass as cheese.
9. Slurpees/Icees
Have you ever tried to clean one of those gas station machines that dispense Icees or Slurpees? They’re a nightmare that few employees ever want to tackle, meaning they’re very rarely cleaned properly. Imagine how long the frozen sugar has been swirling around inside the machine before you opt for a frozen drink next time! One employee is quoted as saying, “The amount of mold in those machines would crush your childhood to a pulp.”
10. Chicken Nuggets
The very concept of nuggets is an insult to those of us who love healthy chicken meals (chicken breast, legs, etc.) The chicken breast is breaded, deep fried, and left to soak for hours, giving you 47 calories and 3 grams of fat in EVERY SINGLE McNugget! Plus, unless you’re seeing a fresh batch cooked right in front you, you can bet your boots those nuggets have been sitting on a hot plate somewhere since very early in the morning.
