from Snoops.com
A 2011 episode of the celebrity chef’s TV program “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” sparked a public debate over a product Oliver called “pink slime.”
- In June 2026, a social media claim spread that McDonald’s lost a lawsuit against the TV chef Jamie Oliver, who — according to posts — proved that the fast food chain’s food was “unfit for human consumption” because it was “highly toxic.” The claim is unproven.
- Snopes previously investigated a variation of this claim in 2018. We found then and now that Oliver said in a 2011 TV program that beef trimmings used for a product he called “pink slime” were “not fit for human consumption.” We found no evidence that he specifically called McDonald’s food “unfit for human consumption” or “toxic,” as the posts suggested.
- The American Meat Institute, a trade association that represents processors of meat and poultry, said in 2012 that beef trimmings used to make “pink slime,” which it calls Boneless Lean Beef Trimmings, were edible.
- However, because we could not access a full version of the “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” episode where Oliver discussed “pink slime” to see if he specifically mentioned McDonald’s, we leave this claim unrated.
- Snopes will update this report if, or when, additional information surfaces. We contacted Oliver and McDonald’s to ask whether Oliver has ever called the fast food chain’s food “unfit for human consumption” or “toxic” or whether McDonald’s ever lost a lawsuit involving Oliver and are waiting for responses.