HOAX – ‘Semen Found on McDonald’s Burger’

Outline

Circulating report claims that a woman in Michigan found semen in the mayonnaise of a McDonald’s burger and caught herpes as a result of the contamination. 

Brief Analysis

The message is a hoax. No such incident occurred and it has not been confirmed by the Health Department as claimed. The warning is just a variant of a long running series of hoaxes that have falsely claimed that food at various eateries was contaminated with semen. And, herpes is spread via direct contact not via semen. The image in the hoax report is taken from an unrelated food blog post.

Example

Detailed Analysis

According to a report that is currently making its way rapidly around the interwebs, a hapless woman in Michigan inadvertently ate semen concealed in the mayonnaise of a chicken burger she bought at a local McDonald’s store.

Supposedly, the woman realized the mayonnaise was contaminated after she recognized the ‘texture’ of the semen from past bedroom encounters. The report claims that subsequent Health Department testing confirmed that there were two types of semen in the mayonnaise. 

However, the report is nonsense. No such contamination incident occurred and it was not confirmed by the Health Department as claimed.

In fact, the story is just the latest incarnation of a long running series of hoaxes that go back to at least the 1980s. The hoaxes all relate the same basic story but set the supposed incident in different eateries. Earlier variants often featured Indian or Chinese restaurants.

A more recent version claimed that a woman got syphilis in her mouth after inadvertently eating semen-contaminated food at an Olive Garden restaurant in Iowa.

Not one of these circulating semen contamination scares is true.

A related series of hoaxes falsely claim that workers have deliberately added HIV infected blood or semen to food or drinks.

The bogus report includes a photograph that it claims depicts the semen contaminated chicken burger. However, the image was stolen from a 2012 food blog and has no connection whatsoever with the supposed contamination story.

Moreover, even if the woman had eaten semen-contaminated mayonnaise she would not have contracted herpes as a result. Herpes spreads via direct contact, not via bodily fluids.

The BeyondHerpes website notes:

Genital herpes is usually contracted from skin to skin contact with an infected area. The infection needs to be active on the skin’s surface for the infection to spread.

For example, if someone has a genital herpes infection they could pass the virus onto another person by touching or making contact with the active infected area, such as through vaginal, anal or oral sex, or by rubbing against the infection. Friction, heat and moisture, as well as a break or tear in the skin, could increase the chance of the herpes virus spreading.

Herpes is not spread by saliva, semen, blood or body fluids. It is also not spread through toilet seats or sharing the same bed.

And, a TeenClinic.org article concurs, noting:

Herpes is a virus that transmits through skin-to-skin contact. It does not transmit through semen, vaginal fluid, or blood-so no, it’s not possible to accidentally give yourself herpes by touching semen and then touching the mouth. In rare cases, it is possible to spread herpes by touching a genital sore and then quickly touching the mouth (or vice versa); however, herpes is fragile and this is unlikely.

These false tales add to the myths and confusion surrounding sexually transmitted diseases and sharing them is counterproductive.