We’ve all heard the horror stories about gross, nasty things found in the food at some of the most popular fast food joints in the world – fried mice, hair, severed finger in chili, condoms, chemicals, and many more – some are actually myths, but many of them are 100% true! I figured I’d take advantage of these disgusting tales of food filth, and introduce my new “Grossed Out Food Diet”! Ok…So, it’s not a real diet, but at least it may help to persuade you from eating these unhealthy fast food choices next time you get a craving.

These are a list of food horror stories that have either been verified to be true, or at least had a lawsuit filed against the restaurant by the victim, so prepare to be grossed out! Next time you get a craving for some McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, or Burger King, just remember this post and proceed with caution!

1. In 1995 a man in Alabama was dining at McDonalds when he found a condom in his burger. No word on whether it was a used condom or not, but does it really matter?!?

2. An Ohio man found skin, apparently from part of a thumb, in his sandwich at Arbys back in 2004.

3. In 2003 a man was enjoying a three-piece combo from Popeye’s Chicken, and as he took a bite out of his chicken, he noticed that a mouse had apparently lodged itself between the skin and the meat of the chicken. This restaurant had been cited for rodent infestations in the past – why wasn’t this place shutdown!

4. Clam chowder gone bad! A woman eating a bowl of clam chowder in 2002 at a McCormick and Smicks’s seafood restaurant in Southern California found a condom in her chowder, which she originally mistook for calamari, but soon after noticed that it was something else rubbery. She sued the restaurant and won an undisclosed settlement amount.

5. Employees at an Oregon Jack in the Box decided to “amuse themselves” one day by adding a variety of disgusting things to customers’ burgers, including acid, soap, phlegm, hair, and staples.

6. In 2000 a woman purchased a box of chicken wings at a local McDonalds only to find that one of the chicken pieces was actually a chicken’s head! FYI: Deep fried chicken head is not on the McDonalds menu.

7. A firefighter in Virginia Beach found two used bandages in his quarter pounder from McDonalds. I imagine that this happens more often than most people think.

8. A man in Tennessee allegedly bit down on a hypodermic needle while eating a Big Mac from McDonalds (this one is not confirmed to be true, but it’s scary to think about nonetheless).

9. A 50-year-old man in Houston contracted a disease called cysticercosis caused by employees using poor hygiene, such as not washing their hands after going to the bathroom, at a local restaurant. His food was contaminated with tapeworm eggs which nearly killed him. The tapeworm larvae spread to his brain and caused him to pass out and not wake up for eight days. Apparently, he was the fourth patient treated for the disease in that area within the past few months back in 2007.

10. Check out this disgusting Burger King in Florida that just leaves their hamburger buns outside for the pigeons to eat!

11. A study on fast food restaurant cleanliness conducted in Durban, South Africa (a popular tourist town) concluded that 20,000 food outlets, including popular fast food joints, in the area inspected by the City Health Department failed to meet minimum health requirements. Health officials found hair, insects, cigarettes, weevils and fingernails in the food at these places. Senior official at the City Health Department, Umar Singh, said “We have found foreign objects coming into contact with food, including insects, weevils and cockroaches. We have also found unsanitary conditions, the smoking of tobacco products, defective fume-extraction units and a lack of protective clothing for the staff.”

12. A 2009 video shows an employee at Dominos doing some very disgusting things to a couple of sub sandwiches. Needless to say, the employee was immediately fired after the big-wigs at Domino’s saw the video on the Internet. Click here for the disgusting Dominos video.

It seems like every year there is a new diet craze sweeping the nation, with unquestioned stories of weight loss and lives changed. The medical professionals behind these amazing diets are always trained, and sometimes in different, and unorthodox medicines. Studying holistic medicine, or traditional medicine like with an online MPH, gives people the knowledge and wisdom needed to properly identify dieting opportunities