In 1993, an E. coli outbreak struck more than 700 diners across California, Idaho, and Nevada. It killed four children causing sales to plummet by 35%.

With horse meat DNA being found in patties in Europe, this massive burger chain was affected. They were connected to ABP Food Group, a huge meat distributor.

Burger King tested some samples of their meat and found a small amount of horse DNA, but none in patties taken from restaurants. Still, customers were put off by the ordeal.

The meat at Taco Bell isn’t recognizable as ground beef. When Alabama law firm, Beasley Allen, hired a lab to test the meat, they found it was just 35% meat.

The lawsuit went viral and Taco Bell responded by running ads in major American newspapers calling the allegations “absolutely false” and “egregious.”

The reputation of this pizza chain managed to stay intact when it was revealed they had long-standing links to some of the most notorious crime families on the East Coast.

The chain was a sponsor of the NFL when founder, chairman, and spokesperson John Schnatter publicly opposed anti-racist and pro-social justice actions by players.

Schnatter complained protests hurt the NFL so badly, it affected Papa John’s sales. In a 2018 conference call, he used the N-word freely; he later resigned as chairman.