MIND SOUP: A few hours ago, I went to Burger King Bliss (Beirut, Lebanon) to buy a dinner meal. As I went in to the place, a strong smell of urine filled the place. I did not bother to think about it a lot, partly because I was hungry since I hadn't had anything to eat all day, and partly because I assumed that the smell is coming from the nearby alley where homeless people piss.
Anyway. I ordered a chicken cheese burger meal (with French fries and coke) and a side chicken fries. When I got home, I opened the bag and it smelled exactly the same urine smell. It turns out the French fries had this
strong smell, it was not even funny. It was as if someone pissed in the cooking oil.
Needless to say I threw everything out and I would never even consider eating at Burger King again.
After this, I tried contacting the management on their contact form and emails on their website to inform them about the issue, but it seems that their server is rejecting my emails (they keep bouncing back to my inbox). After trying to no avail to find the local chain on various social media, I decided to post this on here firstly to let the people know what happened, and secondly, for the company to read this since there is apparently no way to contact them except going back to the store (which I am not really prepared to do.)
A good company should google itself regularly to check customer reviews and complaints (part of a good marketing campaign) and therefore BK should not have a problem finding this post.
Next time when I'm craving a good chicken burger, I know it would be a wiser and probably a safer choice to go to Hardee's.
UPDATE 1: My friend Doaa also complained of the same urine odor filling the place, though it was not in the fries. I quote: "When I went there, the fries did not smell like anything but the smell of the place was unbearable. [...] I felt like I was sitting in a public restroom."
UPDATE 2: ShantDotMe says on twitter that he was delivered a burger in rotten bread from Burger King [link]
Anyway. I ordered a chicken cheese burger meal (with French fries and coke) and a side chicken fries. When I got home, I opened the bag and it smelled exactly the same urine smell. It turns out the French fries had this
strong smell, it was not even funny. It was as if someone pissed in the cooking oil.
Needless to say I threw everything out and I would never even consider eating at Burger King again.
After this, I tried contacting the management on their contact form and emails on their website to inform them about the issue, but it seems that their server is rejecting my emails (they keep bouncing back to my inbox). After trying to no avail to find the local chain on various social media, I decided to post this on here firstly to let the people know what happened, and secondly, for the company to read this since there is apparently no way to contact them except going back to the store (which I am not really prepared to do.)
A good company should google itself regularly to check customer reviews and complaints (part of a good marketing campaign) and therefore BK should not have a problem finding this post.
Next time when I'm craving a good chicken burger, I know it would be a wiser and probably a safer choice to go to Hardee's.
UPDATE 1: My friend Doaa also complained of the same urine odor filling the place, though it was not in the fries. I quote: "When I went there, the fries did not smell like anything but the smell of the place was unbearable. [...] I felt like I was sitting in a public restroom."
UPDATE 2: ShantDotMe says on twitter that he was delivered a burger in rotten bread from Burger King [link]
UPDATE 3: Two months after the incident, I still haven't recieved any official response from Burger King. I have given up on large multinational/international companies using social media (and the internet) effectively.
Hey Mouds,
ReplyDeleteThat is really annoying actually.
Since the last time i went there i was checking their certificates. They got the ISO and the HACCP.which both indicate cleanliness and well preparation in a safe way.
So, this is wierd if they really implied both systems that such incident occur.
But as a food technologist, i think this might be due to the rancidity in oil.
See after several times of frying in the same oil, the oil gets nasty.
Simply, a good restaurant or factory has to throw this oil every couple of hours according to the frequency of its use.
So, in your case , you were unfortunate that you had your fries made in the nasty Oil :S
And BK should have made sure that the oil is thrown :S.
But as for the urine smell and a nasty oil , here falls another question.
Good luck with that.
I suggest you go their again and tell them.
I was wondering how their fries had that crisp golden yellow color.
ReplyDeleteSecret Ingredient EXPOSED!
Well i think they had their ISO and HACCP just for their main kitchen and not all branches, cz Jal El Dib branch's food safety and personal hygiene are bleeekh,disgusting!
ReplyDeleteHave it your way with our new ingrediant: urine oil. mmmmm delicious!
ReplyDeleteU should contact the health inspection department!!! This is unacceptable
ReplyDeleteUrine is very healthy, and is used in many developed countries of the world for treatment of several diseases!
ReplyDeletemaybe it was a disgruntled employee lol and you pissed them off.
ReplyDeleteanyways, you should put in your headline lebanon...so the appropriate people (not myself, but management/Lebanon BurgerKing) will check it and hopefully improve the situation.
Internationally they have so many franchises, you aren't likely to get a response.
One cannot control human behavior. However someone there must have noticed and would not have let this situation occur. I.E. they would have closed down and fixed the problem. The only way to prove your not the one making this up, would be to have the fries analyzed. I find it unlikely that the original commentee would not have found a way to contact the restraunt in question. I see that this posting is more likely be processed by snopes and declared a myth.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Burger King is not what it was anymore... Check out Mc. Donald's as well
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nogarlicnoonions.com/mc-donalds-lebanon-has-become-a-total-mess/
I experienced the same thing at a Virginia, USA store. I've smelled rancid oil before and it didn't smell like that. I was wondering if they were using amonia. The chicken nuggets and sandwich didn't smell like that.
ReplyDeletesimilar thing happened to me at a BK in Bristol, PA. i ordered fries. At first everything was fine, i ate a couple fries then one fry i took a bite and a horrendous smell of urine filled my mouth. It was absolutely disgusting. I spit out the fry and my mouth still smelled like urine. so i ended up having to brush, and use extra strong mouthwash to get rid of that smell and i probably swallowed some of it so i ended up having to drink the strongest liquor i could find to help prevent any kind of disease.
ReplyDeleteIDENTICAL thing happened to me from a Joliet, IL store this afternoon!!!! Thought the smell was maybe from a spot if dog pee that went unnoticed on the rug... But no... One French fry that ended up in my mouth and promptly spit out!!!!! My husband thinks I'm insane, since he shared the fries and did not experience and bad smells or tastes....
ReplyDeleteI just ate at a McDonald's in Arlington, VA for lunch. My fries smelled like PEE. There was no other way to describe it. The chicken nuggets (which I ate first) seemed fine. I threw the fries and drink out immediately. I almost never eat fast food - maybe 4-5 times a year, so at first I thought maybe it could be me. But no, I smelled the fries several times, and sure enough...they smelled like a gas station (or McDonald's!!) restroom. Literally all I can think about is what kind of disease I'll end up with now. Ebola??
ReplyDeleteYesterday we ate at a Burger King in Frankfurt, Germany, and both of our fries smelled like PEE. Never ever going back to BK again.
ReplyDeleteYesterday we ate at a Burger King in Frankfurt, Germany, and both of our fries smelled like PEE. Never ever going back to BK again.
ReplyDeleteIt just happened to me. Willmar, Minnesota. November 16, 2016. Took a bite into my fries, and oh my gosh, and overwhelming taste of piss. I called the store and ask them what the deal was, they said "do you want to come back and get fresh fries or did you just call to complain".
ReplyDelete