The Weird Reason Dairy Queen Had To Confirm That Its Burgers Aren't Made Of Human Meat

While it's always a good idea to verify what your fast food burgers are made of, it's not often that "human meat" ever comes up in conversation. That wasn't the case for a Greenwood, South Carolina Dairy Queen, though, who experienced a swarm of federal agents after they received a complaint that there was human meat inside a burger (via Eater). Or did they? As it turns out, the true story behind this bizarre rumor is not quite as outlandish as the possibility of human-based hamburger patties. 

While there was indeed an FBI raid on the Greenwood restaurant, the real story goes that the raid was triggered by an investigation into an unlicensed money transferring business. Two people were ultimately arrested for this crime, as the FBI discovered that one man kept a cool $200K in a locked safe inside the Dairy Queen so the other man could access it (via Fox News). 

So, where on earth did "human meat in hamburgers" come into the equation? When interviewed after the raid, DQ Manager Saif Momin told the Greenwood paper Index-Journal that a corporate inspector informed him that a customer complained about human meat in a burger. Whether this set off the rumor in the first place or Momin was caught up in an already-existing rumor isn't clear. What is clear, though, is that the newspaper interviewed the local coroner who said that nope, there is not actually human meat inside the restaurant's patties.

Momin wasn't charged with any crimes, and none of his employees were part of the criminal activity or federal agent action — those involved don't even work at the business. However, the rumor was outrageous enough that DQ went so far as to publicly address the rumor on Twitter. When tagged by a Twitter user and asked outright if they use human meat at their Greenwood location, the company replied, "Hi Matthew! At DAIRY QUEEN, we are very proud of our 100% beef hamburgers. We serve a high-quality hamburger with no additives or fillers."

While it's obviously good news that there are no additives, human or otherwise, in a Dairy Queen hamburger, it's definitely an odd rumor to have to worry about — or get a coroner to dispel.