In advance of Halloween, Burger King unveiled a new whopper with black buns and A1 steak sauce in late September. The company called it the Halloween Whopper.
Fans of the Whopper were excited to try the new menu item, but after only a few hours, they were left with more than memories and an Instagram picture — some claim their feces had turned greenish blue, as first spotted by First We Feast.
Right away, people started posting the news on Twitter:
—Captain Insaneo (@AbateadamAdam) October 1, 2015
—Kirk (@iNCREDiPiNOY) October 3, 2015
—c doggy dog (@caydensalazar_) October 3, 2015
—kat (spooky edition) (@andouilles) October 3, 2015
—Chel$ey (@cheIseyyysmile) October 1, 2015
Some people are saying the new shade could last multiple days.
—Toasty (@ImHunterStanton) October 5, 2015
—Dr. Pluto A. Planet (@PLUTOAPLANET) October 1, 2015
One Twitter was less than amused and pointed out that the black bun contains nearly twice as many chemicals and ingredients as the normal sesame seed bun. These ingredients include FD&C Blue #1 and FD&C Yellow #6, which combined, would give you that blue-green color everyone is seeing.
It's not surprising that food dye could change the color of someone's stool. An unusual color is "almost always due to food coloring or food additives," according to Children's Hospital in Colorado, and even vegetables like spinach or kale can turn feces green, according to the Mayo Clinic.
—lauren yap (@itslaurenyap) October 5, 2015
Tech Insider reached out to Burger King about the issue, but has yet to hear back. Burger King told ABC News that the black bun contains less than 1% of food dye and Huffington Post pointed out that in its nutrition information, Burger King states that the dye amounts were “within the safe and Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) approved by the Food and Drug Administration.”
But that hasn’t stopped the concerns and feedback from rolling onto Burger King’s Facebook page.
Yet for some people, this seems to be an added bonus.
—Kyle Partyka (@pinkpacket) October 6, 2015
—❤️Zelfiquin™ (@Jinikyut) October 6, 2015
—Rita Templeton (@FightingFrumpy) October 5, 2015