No, McDonald's did not inspire cannibalism bill in Idaho | Fact check

Gabrielle Settles, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: Idaho cannibalism bill linked to McDonald's using human meat

A March 13 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a man talking about an unusual bill proposed in Idaho.

At one point, the video shows a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, that states, "Rep. Heather Scott presents H522, prohibiting the serving of human flesh to unknowing recipients."

The man then says, “Do you introduce bills to stop something that isn’t happening? … You all, they have been feeding us human meat and it’s not just with McDonald’s. So maybe now you understand why McDonald’s might have contracts with hospitals. There are a ton of restaurants in that same class that all sell the same meat. And it always has and still has human remains in it.”

The post, which was first shared on TikTok, was liked more than 400 times in four days

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence McDonald's uses human meat. The claim has been previously debunked. A bill related to cannibalism proposed in Idaho's state legislature in February had nothing to do with McDonald's.

Idaho bill introduced amid concerns about human composting

USA TODAY previously debunked the claim that McDonald’s uses human meat. The company responded to a question about the claim on its website in 2016.

“No, we do not have any human meat in our burgers," the company wrote. "We would like to assure you that we only use 100% pure, Halal beef and chicken in our food. That’s it! We source our beef from BRF in Abu Dhabi and chicken from McFood in Malaysia who abide by our strict quality, safety and Halal standards.”

The Instagram video mentions contracts McDonald’s has with hospitals, implying the fast-food company procures human meat from these hospitals. However, news reports from as early as 2012 show hospitals have contracts with the chain simply to put restaurants within their facilities. There is no evidence any hospital provides McDonald's with human bodies.

USA TODAY reached out to McDonald’s for comment, but the company declined to provide a statement.

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Most states, if not all of them, have laws that would make it impossible to legally obtain and consume human flesh, according to Cornell Law School. Idaho is the only state that mentions cannibalism explicitly in legislation, according to Britannica.

The state's legal code says anyone who consumes human flesh is guilty of cannibalism, a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The code also stipulates that it will be considered an "affirmative defense" if the cannibal committed the act "under extreme life-threatening conditions as the only apparent means of survival."

KTVB 7 News in Idaho reported the law went into effect in 1990 amid growing fears of satanic rituals dubbed the “satanic panic.”

On Feb. 8, Idaho State Sen. Heather Scott introduced House Bill 522 to expand the state’s definition of cannibal to include “a person who willfully provides the flesh and blood of a person to another person without that person’s knowledge or consent.” The Idaho House passed the bill on March 7.

While introducing it, Scott said she was concerned about the practice of human composting in Washington state and the possibility of human remains entering the food supply. She made no mention of McDonald's.

Scott also said while introducing the bill that she was concerned about people ingesting human meat without their knowledge, citing a video clip she saw on an airplane. She provided the video in question to the Idaho Statesman, which reported it was from a TruTV prank show in which contestants were tricked into thinking they had consumed human meat when they hadn't.

Human composting is an alternative to cremation or burial in which a deceased person's body is transformed into composting soil. Human composting is legal in seven states, according to a state tracker from the composting group Earth Funeral. Idaho is not one of them yet.

The Instagram user who shared the post could not be reached for comment. USA TODAY reached out to the TikTok user in the video but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cannibalism bill in Idaho wasn't tied to McDonald's meat | Fact check