People’s perceptions of fast food can vary. While many people consider Burger King an excellent fast-food chain, others question why Burger King is so bad. If you are wondering why this conflict, this article will explain why Burger King is so bad. 

Burger King is considered bad for several reasons: not all food items are healthy, the quality of ingredients has been questioned many times, and their service is slow. Furthermore, cooking all the food items on the same grill leads to cross-contamination. 

So, let’s investigate all these factors further to understand customers’ concerns. This will help you decide whether Burger King is a good option for you or not. Moreover, it will also make you aware of the possible concerns you might face at other restaurants.

12 Reasons Why People Think Burger King Is Bad

There are many reasons why Burger King is considered bad. We have compiled a list of all the concerns that will give you an overview of where Burger King, as a fast food restaurant, fails compared to the others.

Burger King Food Is Not Healthy

Burger King food items are good for your health. That’s because many of its food items have high calories, fat, sodium, and sugar content. 

You would be surprised to know that some popular items from Burger King’s menu are also unhealthy for daily consumption. 

For example, Burger King Whopper is not a healthy option. It comes loaded with 679 calories and 1173 mg sodium.

Likewise, Burger King’s Triple Whopper, king-sized fries, Bacon, and Swiss BK Royal Crispy Chicken sandwich are also unhealthy to eat regularly. They have a high calorie and sodium content. Thus, regular consumption of these items can lead to health problems. 

To counter this problem, Burger King offers low-calorie options like Garden Side Salad, Whopper Jr., Hamburger, and Chicken Nuggets (4-piece).

These Burger King items come with comparatively low-calorie content. Furthermore, you can also find healthier options in Burger King’s breakfast menu. Burger King’s Pancake Platter, Egg & Cheese Croissan’wich, Egg and Cheese Biscuit, and Ham, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit have significantly fewer calories than the other items.

Average Quality Ingredients

The quality of Burger King’s ingredients has been questioned repeatedly for various reasons. That’s because they use colors, preservatives, and additives. Moreover, they also use hydrogenated oils that are harmful to health. 

While fast-food restaurants claim to use the best ingredients, let’s remember the reality of the fast-food industry. Like many other fast-food restaurants, Burger King has used artificial ingredients. 

Such ingredients are of average quality and harmful to health. Thus, Burger King is now working towards offering a menu free from additives, color, and preservatives wherever possible. 

Moreover, they are also aiming at reducing the use of hydrogenated oils that are unhealthy for consumption. But there are more reasons why Burger King’s ingredients are called average. 

Let’s remember that Burger King got embroiled in a nationwide scandal. In 2013, it was revealed that Burger King beef patties contained horse meat. The source of contamination was believed to be improper practices followed by their Irish meat factory supplier, Silvercrest Foods Plant.

In the end, the company revealed that the patties were indeed contaminated. Ever since then, Burger King has followed stringent food safety practices. Today, they are known for selling 100% natural beef patties.

But when it comes to other ingredients like veggies, cheese, and buns, Burger King uses a poor variety. For example, Burger King uses standard American cheese in their burgers. Compared to other cheese varieties, the taste of American cheese is of low quality.

Likewise, the company uses basic veggies to build burgers, like lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. There is a lack of exotic ingredients, and the existing ingredients aren’t too expensive. Additionally, their quality could be better at all times. 

Many times, their burgers don’t contain the freshest veggies. The reason could be because of a lack of suitable supply of ingredients by their vendors or improper storage.   

Furthermore, to cater to the needs of fish lovers, Burger King typically offers a fish sandwich on its menu, known as the “Burger King Fish Sandwich.” Here again, Burger King makes use of white Alaskan Pollock fish. While the fish has a delicate and flaky texture, its flavor is mild. 

Thus, people who enjoy the flavor of fish find their Big Fish sandwich average. The saving grace of the sandwich is the use of tartar sauce.  

Likewise, Burger King’s coffee options are also not that great. Burger King competitors use much better-quality coffee beans that taste better. Therefore, customers find Burger King’s coffee average. 

The competitors use unique blends of coffee and premium beans that deliver a great taste. In comparison, the coffee used by Burger King has a faint flavor, which customers do not appreciate.

However, that’s not to say that all the items are of average quality. Burger King chicken items are appreciated. The company’s website explicitly mentions using real white meat chicken for making chicken sandwiches, tenders, and nuggets. 

Cross Contamination Between Vegan & Non-Vegan Foods

Burger King food is considered bad due to cross-contamination. This is because Burger King uses the same grills and fryers to cook vegan and non-vegan foods on which their meat-based food is cooked. 

One of the most essential reasons why Burger King food can be bad for you is due to cross-contamination. Owing to food allergies and the trend of following special diets, many restaurants claim to serve food that fits their needs. 

However, the reality is far from that. Let me explain why it is so. Like many other fast-food restaurants, Burger King offers a vegan menu and claims to sell vegan products that are 100% vegan. But that’s not true. 

The Truth is that all the vegan items are cooked on the same grill on which the other meat items are also cooked. This leads to cross-contamination between vegan and non-vegan foods. Likewise, the fried items at Burger King aren’t truly vegan, either. 

Burger King explicitly mentions that they use shared fryers. This brings us to the question: are Burger King fries vegan? Similarly, are Burger King onion rings vegan?

Moreover, if we look for vegan items from the Burger King breakfast menu, doesn’t it make you question whether Burger King hash browns are genuinely vegan? Thus, we can say that such glitches do not make Burger King food suitable for all. 

Burger King Employees Are Slow

Burger King’s slow service is also why people call it bad. Factors like inefficient and less staff, the complexity of the order, and broken equipment cause service delays.

Food is the most essential part that helps us determine which restaurants are better than others. However, the operations carried out by the restaurants also significantly impact the overall dining experience. 

Therefore, if we look closely at the management operations of Burger King, their service is noted as slow. According to a study by QSR magazine (“quick-service restaurants”), Burger King has the slowest drive-through of all the fast-food restaurants. It also has the most order errors.

In the study on speed, results showed that it takes 201.33 seconds–or 3 minutes and 20 seconds–on average for a customer to get through a Burger King drive-through. But at fast food drive-throughs, customers expect the order to be delivered in less than a minute.

Several factors contribute to the slow service at Burger King. These include fewer staff, inefficiency of staff, the complexity of the order, and broken equipment.

As a result, many of Burger King’s customer complaints are filed with the Better Business Bureau. Most of them are about the employees of the restaurant. Customers have reported that they offered no assistance or compensation for incorrect orders. Many also point out that the attitude of the staff is not friendly.  

Unethical Labor Practices

Former employees have filed lawsuits against Burger King for wage fraud, lousy working conditions, and lack of benefits. It is one of the reasons why it is not a great place. 

No problem arises because of a single factor. It is a result of a cause that has an effect. Thus, the inefficiency of employees at Burger King is also a result of unethical labor practices followed by the company.

A former Burger King employee filed a class action lawsuit against Tri City Foods Inc., based in Illinois and the country’s second-largest Burger King franchisee, in March of 2020. 

He noted that altering employee timesheets and removing hours from the record books is a form of wage fraud. According to the lawsuit, hourly workers didn’t receive the minimum wage and a half required by law, and it was done “willful, arbitrary, unreasonable, and/or in bad faith.” 

But this isn’t the only acquisition that Burger King has faced. Two more cases were filed against Burger King in 2015 for not paying overtime, which violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. 

As a result, rallies were held in favor of the workers who relied on their paychecks to meet their basic requirements, according to Madison.com. According to the Los Angeles Times, a 2014 survey found that 92 percent of Burger King employees believed they had encountered wage fraud.

But these aren’t the only challenges faced by workers at Burger King. Apart from low wages, employees have also spoken about the challenges faced due to bad working conditions. Burger King’s famous flame-grilled burgers are cooked on broilers. 

With all the grease left behind from the food, it takes intensive cleaning. Thus, a former Burger King employee shared on Reddit that broilers have multiple pieces that have to be detached to be cleaned properly. 

That’s why cleaning the broilers requires a lot of time in the after-hours. This, in turn, troubles workers who must close the restaurants every night. As a result, an employee shared a plea on Reddit requesting help cleaning the broilers.  

Furthermore, after so much hard work, the lack of benefits at Burger King has also agitated the employees. The pay at Burger King is not good compared to other fast food restaurants. According to Zippia, the average annual salary at Burger King is 12.19% lower than its competitors.

Similarly, according to Spendmenote, the average entry-level hourly pay at Burger King is the lowest: $9.86 per hour. On the other hand, the average hourly wage at other restaurants lies between $12 and $13 per hour. Find out if Burger King pays weekly or biweekly. 

However, over time, some employee concerns have improved. To motivate their employees, Burger King offers many benefits to them. For example, Burger King discounts its employees on the food they purchase. Likewise, they also provide flexible working hours and health insurance. 

So, while there are some cons to working at Burger King, there are some pros, too! In case you are planning to work at Burger King, do take a look at what age Burger King hires. 

An Outdated Breakfast Menu

Burger King has an outdated breakfast menu as compared to other restaurants. Other restaurants offer many more varieties of food and beverage options in comparison.

For example, Burger King’s competitors offer many more varieties of breakfast sandwiches, sides, and different flavors of coffee. Like McDonald’s, the McCafe menu provides many hot and cold coffee options like vanilla, mocha, caramel, and other seasonal flavors. 

Likewise, Burger King competitors like Wendy’s offer many delicious options. Like Wendy’s honey butter chicken biscuit, breakfast Baconator, and classic sausage, egg & cheese sandwich is much appreciated.

So does Chick-fil-A offer more tempting options for breakfast like hash brown scramble brown, hash brown scramble burrito, and Greek yogurt parfait? However, in competition with the others, Burger King’s breakfast menu is outdated as it still has some basic breakfast options. 

Although Burger King breakfast offers several options, other fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, and Chick-fil-A have been doing much better. McDonald’s is indeed the reigning champ of fast-food breakfasts. 

If we compare Burger King Breakfast to McDonald’s Breakfast, we can see that McDonald’s has been at the forefront of serving the best breakfast for far longer than most of its competitors. McDonald’s is known for its consistent quality and taste. 

Furthermore, it also includes a much more comprehensive range of options that can be customized. Moreover, McDonald’s breakfast items are often perceived as affordable, providing good value for the price. 

Thus, to compete with McDonald’s and attract more customers, Burger King will have to add more options at affordable prices. Likewise, Wendy’s breakfast is much appreciated compared to Burger King’s.

The breakfast sales for Wendy’s have been booming, leading to the expansion of menu items. Wendy’s has better breakfast sandwiches and is doing exceptionally well in their dipping sauces department, which also beats McDonald’s.

Similarly, Taco Bell has created a name for itself as a unique fast-food breakfast place. It offers extraordinary things no other fast-food restaurant has yet to debut, such as Mexican-style iced coffee, Cinnabon Delights, and nutritious breakfast burritos. 

Adverse Environmental Impact

The daily production practices of Burger King are considered bad for the environment. It has led to waste generation, deforestation, emission of greenhouse gasses, and more. 

With so much production of goods worldwide, large fast-food chains also harm the environment through various practices and activities. Let’s take a look at these factors:

1. Deforestation: Fast-food restaurants, particularly those that offer meat, are frequently associated with deforestation. Clearing trees for livestock grazing leads to habitat damage and biodiversity loss.
2. Generation of waste: Fast-food businesses generate a significant quantity of garbage. These include single-use packaging, cups, containers, and utensils. Much of this garbage winds up in landfills or the environment as litter, contributing to pollution and ecological disruption.
3. Plastic Pollution: Single-use plastic products such as straws, lids, cups, and wrappers are extensively used by fast-food restaurants. Thus, plastic pollution in oceans, rivers, and other ecosystems results from improper dumping and insufficient recycling initiatives.
4. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases: The production of beef, chicken, and other animal products used to make fast food results in considerable emissions of greenhouse gasses. This is a significant contributor to climate change.
5. Consumption of Resources: The fast-food sector consumes many resources like water and electricity in manufacturing, processing, and transporting food. These activities put pressure on natural resources and contribute to depletion.
6. Chemical Use: The production of fast-food ingredients can pollute the soil and water as they may use pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in agriculture to produce. Moreover, farm runoffs can also contain hazardous substances that can impact local water quality.
7. Overfishing: Fast-food restaurants that sell seafood may contribute to overfishing. This, in turn, leads to the depletion of marine resources.
8. Air Pollution: Transportation of ingredients and goods to and from fast-food restaurants also contributes to air pollution and carbon emissions. This covers the fuel delivery trucks need and the energy used for refrigeration.

Increasing Pricing

Burger King is one of the most expensive fast-food chains compared to its competitors. That’s why people find the others more affordable and better.

While eating out, everyone considers the restaurants’ affordability before planning which one to go to. So, if we closely look at the Burger King pricing data, you will notice that Burger King food has become expensive over time. 

An interesting report by Insider reveals how the prices of Burger King menu items have changed over the years. Burger King’s Whopper has been around since 1957, but the cost of an average burger back then was just $0.21. It increased to $0.64 by 1978, and the average price has only risen.

In 2005, the burger cost rose by $1.19; by 2018, it rose by $2.64. Thus, the price of the Whopper was just $.37 when Burger King first debuted the burger. However, today, a Burger King Whopper costs more than $4. 

Thus, we can see how the cost of Burger King food items has risen since it opened its doors. However, Burger King food is still cheap as the brand offers many deals, coupons, rewards, etc., making the purchases more valuable. 

For example, the Burger King rewards program earns every member ten crowns for every dollar they spend. The accumulated crowns can be used to purchase free items. Likewise, they offer deals where you can get free fries with any purchase. Moreover, you can also purchase family bundles at pocket-friendly prices, including Whopper, hamburgers, and fries.  

Controversies Related To Their Food

Burger King has been entangled in many food-related controversies. It got defamed for the horse meat controversy, and the Impossible Whopper designed for vegans was not truly vegan. 

Burger King has faced its share of controversies about its food and business practices that can’t be ignored. Some of these controversies have been the subject of public debate and media attention. Let’s examine them to discover what has posed questions about Burger King’s image. 

Burger King was embroiled in a European horse meat controversy in 2013 after some beef burgers discovered traces of horse DNA. A significant food industry controversy originated in Europe and highlighted questions about the fast-food supply chain’s openness and traceability.

Ultimately, the company revealed that some of its burgers had been contaminated. “Our independent DNA test results on products taken from restaurants were negative for any equine DNA,” Burger King said in a statement. “However, four samples recently taken from the Silvercrest plant have shown very small trace levels of equine DNA.”

Likewise, Burger King Australia, known as Hungry Jack’s, also got into a scandal when they copied McDonald’s famous Big Mac burger. McDonald’s initiated their legal battle with Hungry Jack over charges that the Australian business infringed on their intellectual property by introducing a burger called the “Big Jack.” 

As per Vice, McDonald’s accused Burger King of “flagrant or wilful disregard” of McDonald’s’ trademarks. Besides this lawsuit, Burger King has received slack from McDonald’s for copying their ideas several times.  

Furthermore, Burger King also faced a lawsuit for misleading customers by showing a larger than actual size Whopper on its menu than it is in reality. But the scandals don’t stop here.

Burger King has also cheated the meat-free population with its Impossible Whopper. The public discovered that the Impossible Whopper was not truly vegan or vegetarian because it was cooked on the same grill as real meat. Sure, Burger King never said it was, but that doesn’t prove them right either.

Additionally, it faced severe criticism when Burger King launched their version of the Impossible Burger, featuring a zero percent beef patty. Many companies criticized Burger King for making their fake meat too highly processed.

It raised questions about the potential health risks caused by consuming Burger King products. In response, Vox wrote that the Impossible Whopper is “high calorie, greasy, and probably not a good idea to eat every day.”

Poor Store Locations

Burger King locations have also caused a problem for customers. Many locations have not been making good sales because of inadequate parking spaces and longer queues due to smaller store size. 

The choice of store locations is critical for the success of any retail business, including fast-food chains like Burger King. Although Burger King has many successful locations worldwide, some have challenges.

It is no news that Burger King stores have been shutting down. It has closed many stores this year because many locations have not been doing well because of less footfall. Likewise, many stores have a comparatively smaller seating capacity than the others, which has impacted sales. 

Furthermore, inadequate parking spaces and longer queues also result in customers looking for other eateries, affecting profitability. Most importantly, the store locations in high-leasing areas eat into the profits made at specific locations. 

Polarizing Marketing Campaigns

Many Burger King marketing campaigns have caused public outrage. The fast-food chain has faced criticism for misogynistic advertising and stereotyping of female representation. 

Like many large companies, Burger King has rolled out various marketing campaigns over the years. However, some of these campaigns have generated controversy or faced backlash, thus tarnishing their image. Let’s look at a few notable marketing campaign controversies involving Burger King. 

Burger King launched the “Whopper Sacrifice” campaign on Facebook in 2009, inviting users to unfriend ten people in exchange for a free Whopper. This promotion generated privacy issues, prompting Facebook to turn off the app.

The same year, a print advertisement for Burger King’s “Super Seven Incher” sandwich depicted a woman with an open mouth and the tagline “It’ll blow your mind away.” The ad received backlash for its provocative and potentially obscene themes.

Burger King also faced slack in 2018 for releasing a campaign in mid-2018 that offered a free lifetime supply of Whoppers to any Russian woman who got impregnated by World Cup players. This misogynistic ad drew backlash on Twitter and in many Russian news outlets. Burger King issued an immediate apology for the now-deleted ad. 

Then, in 2019, as an alternative to McDonald’s Happy Meals, Burger King launched the “Real Meals” campaign to highlight various moods and feelings. While it was not a scandal, it sparked debate about mental health and the propriety of fast-food associations with emotional states.

Furthermore, Burger King’s “Proud Whopper” marketing was remarkable. During the San Francisco Pride celebrations, a Whopper was rebranded in rainbow-colored packaging to celebrate LGBTQ+ rights. Although it was not a scandal, the campaign received mixed reactions.

If we see two years down the line, on International Women’s Day 2021, Burger King UK tweeted, “Women Belong in the Kitchen.” The tweet was part of a drive to increase female representation in the restaurant business, but it was criticized for being tone-deaf and disrespectful.

Conclusion

Why is Burger King so bad? Well, you now know all the factors that have caused customer trouble, which has resulted in this reputation. However, that’s not to say that Burger King is entirely bad. The brand is working hard to provide its customers with the best services. 

For example, to make the dining experience exciting, Burger King offers massive burgers to curb hunger. Likewise, Burger King provides drinks and free water to quench your thirst. But that’s not where it ends.  

Burger King also offers customers free WiFi so you can carry out your work without any trouble. So, with so many benefits available at this fast-food chain, you will have a good experience. While you check out more information about Burger King in our other articles, do you know what Burger King is called in Australia?

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