The Biggest Recalls In Burger King's History

Many of our favorite quick-service restaurants have been wrapped up in some of the worst fast-food recalls in history, and Burger King is no exception. The "Have It Your Way" chain has seen its fair share of controversies over the years, with recalls making headlines for everything from dangerous kids meal toys to the safety of its produce and meat.

While Burger King's long history is pretty squeaky clean overall, the times the restaurant did have to pull products prove just how important food safety and consumer protection are in the fast food industry. After all, no one grabs a bite at Burger King expecting something unsavory or unsafe lurking in their combo meal. Whether you are a BK devotee or a food safety fanatic, you might be interested to learn how Burger King has handled recalls in the past. So read on for a breakdown of the biggest in Burger King's history before you pick up another Whopper.

In 1997, Burger King was hit by one of the biggest meat recalls in U.S. history after Hudson Foods recalled 25 million pounds of beef that had been distributed to various restaurants and retailers. The recall was issued over worries that the beef could be contaminated with E. coli, a bacteria that can cause mild to severe illness (and even death), especially for vulnerable individuals like young children and seniors. It ended up affecting 1,650 Burger King locations across 28 states. However, most of them were able to restock beef from another supplier quickly enough to keep slinging burgers.

Still, 700 locations weren't able to switch their beef inventory in time, and some stores reportedly posted signs stating only chicken, fish, pork, and fries were available to order. Some of the affected restaurants even served BLTs and ham-and-cheese sandwiches to make up for the shortage.

At the time, this was the largest beef recall in U.S. history. Burger King was Hudson Foods' biggest beef buyer, but the restaurant cut ties with the supplier permanently after this incident. That's not a huge surprise. Just a year before, another close call involving beef that was infected with staphylococcus bacteria resulted in BK putting the supplier on "probation." In 1998, Hudson Foods (which merged with Tyson Foods after the recall) and two of its employees were indicted on federal charges. (They were later acquitted.) This recall was one whopper of a fiasco.

In late 1999, Burger King launched a promo featuring Pokémon toys, handing out over 25 million plastic Poké Balls with kids meals. The Poké Balls contained different items such as keychains and plushies along with a collectible trading card. The toy inside was not considered hazardous — only the ball. 

A 13-month-old girl died because of this toy, when half of the ball became attached to her face, covering her mouth and nose. Another 18-month-old child nearly died, but thankfully, her father was able to pull the Poké Ball off of her face. These tragedies led to a recall of the toys on January 27, 2000. However, the lethal toy would claim the life of a 4-month old just two days before the balls were pulled. Customers were advised to throw the ball away or return it to Burger King to exchange it for a free order of fries. Burger King caught some heat for not acting quickly, as the restaurant didn't stop the promotion after the first child's death, waiting until a second close-call before actually recalling the toys.

The promotion was so popular that Burger King apologized early on for running low on supplies of the toys, substituting other items for fans who missed out. Even today, the massive Pokémon fandom makes these toys alluring as collectors' items, and you can still find some listings of the original recalled series on eBay. Still, innocent children were harmed, making this easily one of the saddest toys in Burger King kids meal history.

In 2001, another kids meal toy recall hit the fast-food chain after reports that the pin in the "Rattling, Paddling Riverboat" toy for toddlers could come out and pose a choking risk. Luckily, no children were hurt. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Burger King issued a recall of about 400,000 of these toys on March 12. The toys were labeled for children younger than 3, and customers were told to return the toy to Burger King for a free replacement toy.

In July, BK's "Hourglass Space Sprout" and "Look for Me Bumblebee" kids meal toys were recalled because they could break and spill the small beads inside, posing a choking hazard to young children. Burger King received 18 reports of the toys breaking leading up to the recall, but there were no known injuries. 

Also in 2001, Burger King restaurant playground nets were recalled after a 4-year-old boy made his way into a closed-off part of the playground and died after getting stuck between a net and a slide. The company decided to replace the nets, which had two-inch square openings, with "no-climb" versions using smaller holes. In recent years, Burger King has largely moved away from physical play areas to virtual playgrounds through its mobile apps.

August of 2012 saw pre-packaged apple slices at Burger King recalled for potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Listeria can cause severe and life-threatening illness, especially in vulnerable groups like pregnant people, young children, elderly folks, and the immunocompromised.

The recall was issued by Missa Bay (owned by Ready Pac Foods) after Listeria bacteria was discovered on some equipment used to process the apples. It wasn't just Burger King that was affected; The recall of almost 300,000 individual products affected retailers across 36 states as well as McDonald's restaurants. No illnesses were reported at the time of the recall.

In 2015, apple slices were again recalled from Burger King's menu for potential Listeria contamination, but this time the distributor was Appeeling Fruit. The apples were distributed in Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, but Appeeling Fruit confirmed that most of the affected products hadn't reached consumers at the time of the recall.

Recalls present a nightmare scenario for any company, but some get wrapped up in controversy indirectly. That happened to Burger King during one of the biggest food recalls in 2024 when McDonald's slivered onions were linked to an outbreak of E. coli.

Onions served on Mickey D's Quarter Pounder burgers in a handful of states were linked to Taylor Farms, which voluntarily recalled the affected product. In response to the outbreak, Yum! Brands — including Burger King — pulled fresh onions traced to Taylor Farms from its menus in select locations just to be safe. Luckily for BK, only 5% of its restaurants were affected.

The outbreak infected 104 people in 14 states, with one death reported, and the investigation was closed by December 3, 2024. In the end, it was pretty clear that Burger King was off the hook, as nearly every affected individual interviewed during the investigation had recently eaten at McDonald's.