Burger King Admits to Horse Meat in Burgers: Twitter Responds

For two weeks, Burger King has denied that is has been selling burgers and Whoppers containing horsemeat in the UK. Now, they've finally admitted that they have been providing their customers with an unwelcome ingredient in their favorite burger. The result? Twitter has exploded with tweets about horse meat.

New tests were conducted on several of the fast food chain's burgers. They found that four samples showed the presence of trace levels of horse DNA. As a result, Burger King has announced that it is no longer using Silvercrest as its meat supplier since the company has essentially been mixing in a bit of horse with that beef.

How did the horse get into the beef? Silvercrest used a small percentage of its beef imported from a non-approved supplier in Poland. Investigations are ongoing.

This announcement comes hard on the heels of a previous public outcry against the British supermarket chain Tesco, which had sold burgers that were discovered to contain traces of horse meat. Following this revelation, Burger King said that its own patties were made from 100 percent beef. Unfortunately, their marketing ploy was a bust; they were incorrect about having all-beef burgers.

DNA tests found horse in products that included Tesco Everyday Value Beef Burgers (29.1%), Tesco Beef Quarter Pounders (.1%), Oakhurst Beef Burgers in Aldi (.3%), Moordale Quarter Pounderes in Lidl (.1%), Flamehouse Chargrilled Quarter Pounders in Dunnes Stores (.1%) and  two varieties of Iceland Quarter Pounders (.1%).

This new revelation shows a worrying trend in the way we treat our food. Food-associated diseases such as salmonella and norovirus continue to work their ways across the globe, reminding us that it's important to scrutinize the products that we consume.

Don't panic that you've been eating horse with your fries, though. Burger King announced that the meat did not, in fact, make its way into restaurants. 

We've catalogued some the reactions on Twitter to this new revelation--from outrage, to wisecracks. Check them out.