It is a common story in Michigan that Jack in the Box is no longer in Michigan because of a scandal in the 80s regarding JITB selling horse meat burgers. Is there any truth to this? I did find reference to an Australian company being banned from importing meat into the US because of tainted meat, and the JITB e. coli scandal, but nothing about horse meat. Any help you can provide would be appreciated!
Jack in the Box has, since the 70s, been afflicted with repeated instances of food poisoning, often quite nasty, and always high-profile.
This could provide a distorted basis for an urban legend.
No, ground beef is pretty difficult to beat for low cost meat. There would be no point in doing this to save money. These rumors attach themselves to lots of fast food restaurants and have no basis in fact.
It’s just beating a dead horse.
Do you have a cite for more than one high-profile case? Aside from the 1993 incident (after which new procedures were put in place), I know of no other major JITB-linked incidents.
Give the complete quote, wouldja? SHEESH!:rolleyes:
Actually, I had no idea of the source or the complete quote. A little nugget to add to my store of knowledge.
I remember about 1981 or so a news story about JitB importing Australian horsemeat that wound up in their burgers. I remember because I had a girlfriend back then, who had spent a year at the Sorbonne. Knowing how the French adore horsemeat I asked if she’d had any. She said she had sampled it once, and found it tasty enough, but suspected she was allergic to it: Her lips swelled and it made her mouth itchy. Then she paused and said, “You know, Jack in the Box Hamburgers do the same thing to me.” Six month later, when the story hit, she said “What’d I tell you?”
Second this. Given the amount of supply that these chain restaurants would need, there would have to be a vast industry to supply them with the meat.
Where do you think all those horse race losers go? Glue factory?
That movie line is not the origin of the expression “beating a dead horse”. The line doesn’t work as a joke unless the expression is already familiar to the audience.
The origins of the story are a lot more boring than the story itself. So prepare to doze off.
In 1968 Foodmaker (the parent company of JITB) was bought by Ralston Purina. At that time RP was the largest seller of livestock feed in the U.S., so buying a hamburger chain made some business sense.
In the mid-70’s JITB was alleged to be importing beef from Australia. I don’t know if that happened, but it’s true that the corn blight in the early 1970’s led to a beef shortage, and beef was imported from Australia, so some of it could have conceivably made its way to JITB and other hamburger chains.
In any case, it’s clear the slur was more directed at Ralston Purina, for selling feed to American livestock producers and then supposedly having their hamburger chain get its beel from Australia. JITB burgers picked up the nickname “kangaroo burgers.”
In 1979, Foodmaker decided its best growth opportunities were in the West and Southwest, and closed more than 200 JITB stores in the Midwest. Two-thirds of all JITB restaurants are now in either Texas or California.Ralston Purina sold the business in 1985.
In summary:
It wasn’t the 1980s, it was the 1970s.
It wasn’t horse meat, it was kangaroo meat.
It wasn’t kangaroo meat, it was Australian beef.
It wasn’t even about the meat, it was a slur against the parent company, which got rid of the chain more than 20 years ago.
It was a business decision to concentrate on other regions.
And that’s why you don’t have JITB in Michigan.
I like the horsemeat version a lot better.
I don’t see why it should be such a big deal. Horsemeat is absolutely delicious.
The “Australian Beef Scandal” was in 1981. From the a Sept 9, 1981 UPI article entitled "Australians Will Investigate Export of Kangaroo as Beef ":
It spawned a song - “Who put the roo in the stew?”.
Man, you were right! That IS boring!