14 menu items fast food workers confess they would never order

Prepare to have your heart broken and childhood memories destroyed.

A very clever Reddit user posed the question: “Fast food workers of Reddit, what should we NOT order at your restaurant? Why not?”

The response was overwhelming from what was presumably fast food workers, with thousands of detailed -- and often disgusting -- descriptions of America's favorite fast food menu items.

It is important to make clear that none of these claims have been verified, as they all come from Reddit's user submitted forum. But reading through the many horror stories does invite some pause for reflection.

Without further ado, here are the 14 menu items fast food workers confess they would never order:

1. Dunkin Donuts Sandwiches

(Dunkin Donuts)

“Don’t order the sandwiches. The tuna/chicken is scooped out of a little container. I don't even know what's in it. The eggs come ‘pre-cooked’ and look disgusting. Donuts = Good. Sandwiches = You're nuts, stoned, or hammered.”

2. Panera Pasta

(Panera)

“Panera- pasta; it’s all microwaved, this includes Mac and cheese...Cupcakes/coffee cakes- all come frozen. Best items are the real sandwhich [sic] / salads. Real ingredients and usually fresh.”

3. Little Caesars Bread

(Little Caesars)

“Former Little Caesars manager here. Some franchises are different, but I wouldn't order any Crazy Bread, Jalepeno Bread, or Italian Bread. The sh*t they dress it with out the oven is NOT butter; it's some nasty imitation that comes in a huge bottle and does not need to be refrigerated. Also, Hot-N-Readys and Chicken Wings have been known to sit in the warmer for hours at a time until sold.”

4. 7-Eleven Slurpees

(7-Eleven)

“Gas station slurpee’s. The amount of mold in those machines would crush your childhood to a pulp.”

5. McDonald's Chicken McNuggets

(McDonald's)

“I used to work at McDonald's. If you order, especially chicken nuggets, just ask for them fresh. Otherwise they've been just sitting in their container in the heat. They have a timer, but 9/10 times when that timer goes off, people just reset the timer instead of making new ones. This could go on until all the nuggets are sold.”

6. Jack in the Box Milkshakes

(Jack in the Box)

“Milkshakes at jack in the box if you're allergic to fruit. We do not clean the mixer very well, and it's used for smoothies and milkshakes."

7. Hot Dogs at the Ballpark

(iStock)

“I used to work in a baseball park concession stand. The short answer is not to order anything, but if you absolutely have to buy something, don't buy the hotdogs. Do not. Buy. The Hot Dogs. They made it out of the package okay, and might even have been edible after we finished grilling them - and then they went into the water. We kept three pans of water at the back of the grill, that held the hot dogs. Any hot dogs left at the end of the day went back into the fridge, and came out again the next day. Me and the other cook put our feet down on throwing out the water and old hotdogs after two full days, but the management didn't want to let us.”

8. Taco John's Beans

(Taco John's)

“Taco John's reporting for all you midwesterners. I would steer clear of the beans, at least outside of peak hours, because they sit on the hot table for a long long time and when they dry out, just add water.”

9. Chipotle Quesarito

(Chipotle)

“Chipotle employee here. Can confirm. It backs up the line like no other. If it's not busy, you're fine but PLEASE do not order a quesorito [sic] during our peak hours. Employees will hate you. The people behind you in line will hate you. Everyone will hate you. There's nothing wrong with it health/sanitation wise, but too few people order it for our damned managers to rearrange and optimize our food line for quesorito [sic] production.”

10. Tim Horton's Doughnuts and Mochas

Costumers line up at the Tim Hortons coffee shop inside New York's Penn Station, Monday, July 13, 2009. Canadian doughnut and coffee chain Tim Hortons Inc. said it is opening 12 new locations in New York City, with three more planned for August. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (AP)

“I once worked at Tim Horton's. Let's see...It's usually not a good idea to buy doughnuts late at night. They're made early in the morning and are usually stale by that time. Don't order a 'mocha with no whipped cream'. It will be more expensive than if you order a 'half coffee, half hot chocolate' and they are literally the same thing, only the latter is the price of a coffee.”

11. Pizza Hut Pizza

(Pizza Hut)

“Pizza Hut manager: Our dough are processed, frozen discs that we handle WITHOUT gloves. (When I say handle without gloves, I mean handle without washing hands.)…We also spray them with non-stick spray and oil the hell out of them. After that, we proof them and top them, again, with our bare hands. (Probably dirty) Sometimes the dough will be really old, 4-5 days at the max where it gets all shrively and sinks down into the pan. Oh, and our breadstick and pizza sauce are pretty much tomato paste in a plastic bag that we mixed with water.”

12. Wendy’s Chili

(Wendy’s)

“I used to work at Wendy’s. The meat used in the chili, yeah that comes from the meat on the grill top that expires and dries up that’s put in to a warming drawer until you have enough for a batch of chili, which we first freeze and then thaw the next day. Also if the chili sitting in the warmer doesn’t sell fast enough we just added hot water to it to mix it up.”

13. Taco Bell Beans and Steak

(Taco Bell)

“I worked at Taco Bell a little bit ago and I warn everyone to stay away from both the beans, and the steak. The beans start out looking like cat food, and the directions are, ‘Add water and stir until you can’t see white anymore.’ The steak was just the worst on dish duty. If it would sit too long it would become like hair gel. It was the worst.”

14. KFC BBQ Sandwich

(KFC)

“Worked at KFC for ~4 years. The BBQ sandwich is actually made from chicken too old and stale to give to the homeless shelters, so they soak it in BBQ sauce until it can be pulled and then they keep it on the heater for a month. I still order it though.”