The Real Reason You Should Avoid The Chili At Wendy's

Fast food definitely has its perks. It's quick, tasty, and is always perfectly positioned on the side of the highway just waiting to satisfy our cravings. Fast food brands are famous for having at least one menu item that is a customer favorite. McDonalds has the classic Big Mac, and Arby's revels in their thin slices of roast beef. But unfortunately, there are a few items fast food employees would like to see disappear from the menu altogether.

Take the chili at Wendy's for instance. According to Everything What, Wendy's advertising slogan is "Fresh, Never Frozen." But when we found out a popular ingredient in their chili may have been repurposed — we paused. 

One Wendy's employee on a Reddit thread recently revealed that Wendy's chili meat is made from leftover meat from burgers that failed to sell. Another Wendy's employee agreed, saying, "It gets cut up and thrown into the chili. Aside from that, we always kept things clean."

Fox News confirms that the fast food chain repurposes their cooked hamburger patties in an effort to reduce food waste. The unused patties are placed into the fridge and then chopped up and boiled into minced meat for the chili. We're all about minimizing food waste, but it's easier to do at home where we can keep track of when and where leftovers are coming from.

More skepticism from behind the cash register at Wendy's continues to pop up in the media. A shift manager at Wendy's admits via So Yummy that this questionable menu item is actually the one product they would stay away from. "The only thing that I wouldn't eat myself is the chili. The meat comes from the leftover meat on the grill that dries out," the shift manager said. "It's then cut up, frozen, and bagged for later use in the chili." Adding, "It just doesn't quite sit right with me." If Wendy's cooking process doesn't sit right with their employees, then it doesn't sit quite right with us either.