Urban Myths

Urban Myths

It can all start with an e-mail or a couple of phone calls, and it can escalate into a possible international rumor or myth. According to About.com an urban myth is a “term used to describe an apocryphal – and actually false – story that plays on a general assumption or feeling shared by many, usually of fear or distrust, and that usually claims to expose a public danger (1). Urban myths usually push the lines of believability, and when one really tries to piece the story together and figure out the origin, he finds that it definitely does not prove to be true. They also appear to come with an endorsement like the FCC, the police department, the FBI, or even a newspaper. Urban food myths are no different from any other urban myths. They all start with lies about some sort of food or food company. The people who start these myths are either trying to make a bad reputation for the company or food, trying to scare people, or even trying to get a good laugh out of someone.

For example, an urban food myth began to circulate about Kentucky Fried Chicken when they changed their name to KFC in 1991 because the FDA ordered them to change it because they were not using real chicken for their products (Emery 1). Supposedly the fast food chain had engineered a more efficient way to manufacture their chicken by growing it without heads, beaks, and feathers. The chickens would then be hooked up to mechanical tubes and be fed the exact ration of food that would make them grow the most and best meat. According to the myth, the FDA forced Kentucky Fried Chicken to change their name to KFC because the chickens they served were really not chickens at all because they were headless (Weise 1). They sup...

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