Burger King Feet in Lettuce Pic: Ohio Employee Caught and 'Terminated' (PHOTO)
Burger King has been forced to issue a public response to a gruesome photo that was posted by one of its employees on a social networking site.
The photo in question showed a Burger King employee stomping on lettuce with his shoes on, presumably before it was used in various food items. The disturbing photo was posted on social networking site 4chan alongside the photo caption: "This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King."
The photo sparked national outrage, and the corporation has since issued a public statement insisting that all of the employees involved in the picture scandal were immediately "terminated," according to Fox8.com
"Burger King Corp. has recently been made aware of a photo posted on a social networking site that allegedly shows a BURGER KING® restaurant employee violating the company's stringent food handling procedures. Food safety is a top priority at all BURGER KING® restaurants and the company maintains a zero-tolerance policy against any violations such as the one in question," Burger King's Manager of Global Communications, Denise Wilson, said in a statement to Fox.
"The restaurant where this photo was allegedly taken is independently-owned and operated by a BURGER KING® franchisee. The franchisee has taken swift action to investigate this matter and terminated the employee involved in this incident," she added.
4chan is an English-language image board website and although it allows its users to upload photos anonymously, within minutes irate users located the address of the Burger King in question, which led to the perpetrator's termination.
The photo was allegedly taken at a Burger King in Mayfield Heights, Ohio just outside of Cleveland. A shift manager confirmed to the Cleveland Scene that both the perpetrator and the shift manager on duty would be let go.
A number of fast food fans flocked to social networking site Twitter to vent their outrage after the photo went viral.
"Finally explains why Whoppers taste like old shoes," Lori Kurtzman tweeted.
"Should have been arrested," Mike Lowrey tweeted.
"Feet in Burger King lettuce. Gross," Rusty Surette tweeted.