Oct 31 2009
Strange Food and Ingredient Urban Legends and Folklore
The Frozen Chicken Caper
This story has been told all over parts of Europe during the 1970’s. A person is caught stealing a frozen chicken which they have stuffed down their pants or under a hat. The person is caught only when the blood from the chicken starts running down their face or down their legs. Sometimes, they faint when the cold takes over their skin or chills their brain.
Green M and M’s: Sex Sells
During the 80’s, people believed that green M & M’s would enhance your sex appeal and vigor. Around 1997 Mars Inc, the maker of M & M’s, made a reference to the legend in their advertising campaign during Super Bowl that year. The rumors and folklore seemed to stick around considering the amount of gag gifts seen in places like Spencer gifts and sex shops around the globe.
The Kentucky Fried Rat
Coming from a person that’s been in the industry for many years, I have heard this legend time and time again. A customer, usually a women, buys a bucket of chicken and brings it home. She sits and eats a piece in a low lite area, and after she has eaten half a piece she notices that it has a tail. Of course, there has never been a documented case of this happening. However, stories like this, especially when we are discussing a huge corporate company, have a way of becoming bigger than they really are because of the medias obsession with contamination in restaurants.
The Red Velvet Cake
Around the 1960’s, a rumor circulated that a restaurant goer at the Waldorf Astoria in New York asked for the recipe of their famous red velvet cake. They paid close to $100.00 for it. However, their secret ingredient happened to be red food coloring. The person was outraged, so they decided to circulate the recipe to hundreds of people. However, it did seem that the recipe was pleasing to many people so it found it’s way into supermarkets and cake shops. So next time, when you pay extra for that fancy cake at the shop or market, make sure you are actually getting the real thing and not white cake with food coloring.
Collagen from Unborn Babies as a Makeup Ingredient
During the 1970’s and 80’s rumors were floating around that collagen taken from aborted babies were being used for makeup manufacturing. The companies claimed that it was a necessary action so that customers could reap the benefits of youth. The Food and Drug Administration was quick to dispel any rumors, however they did admit that the protein from placentas were sometimes used. The use of fetuses for makeup production has never been documented in the United States. Furthermore, Ann Landers wrote an article in the mid 80’s that claimed the rumors were “garbage-thereby killing the claims for good.”
The McDonalds WormBurger
This is a perfect example of anti-corporate folklore. As many will agree, we love to make out corporate giants as being the enemy and most of the time they are. During the late 1970’s, a legend was circulating that the late Ray Kroc, president of McDonald’s at the time, was a member of the Church of Satan. Although, it wasn’t a legend anymore when he supposedly professed his beliefs on a national talk show. His name, which was foreign sounding and contained a K, always symbolized something sinister to many.
At the same time, rumors were circulating claiming the burgers at McDonald’s were made out of worms, with some alternative ingredients like sawdust and spider eggs. The stories of contamination were said to be the result of big corporations taking out local businesses and destroying the cultural landscape.
Many years ago, as I was reminded yesterday when I turned 32 years old, I was a member of the girl scouts. One of our field trips was to a McDonald’s in Ohio where we were given the grand tour of the restaurant and we were given a first hand look at what it takes to make a Big Mac and what makes it so unique.
