Anyone who’s ever eaten at a fast food restaurant knows that your meal is not prepared with loving care. The goal is to serve customers as quickly as possible, which often results in mixed up orders that contain low quality junk.

That’s why I’m surprised about two lawsuits recently filed in Detroit. Customers who follow Kosher and Halal diets claim that they were served bacon at KFC and Denny’s. Do I doubt their sincerity? Absolutely not. I’ve eaten plenty of fast food in my life and 9 times out of 10, something goes wrong, particularly if you place a special order. Many fast food workers are teens who pay no attention to detail. Good luck getting something as simple as extra pickles, let alone trying to explain complicated dietary laws to someone who has no idea what they are, nor do they understand why it’s important.

While I believe that reasonable accommodations should be made, there’s no way to ensure that a commercial kitchen can prevent cross contamination 100% of the time. Anyone I know who is strict about their diet, whether it’s Kosher, Vegan, gluten-free, or nut-free, simply will not eat out at a conventional restaurant. In a perfect world, everyone would get what they want, when they want it. But you truly can’t expect to order from a dollar menu and think that you’ll receive a gourmet dish. It’s just not reality.

In both lawsuits, the customers admit when they complained, Denny’s and KFC offered to remake their food and/or return their money. That demonstrates that it was not ill intent, just the typical bad service/bad food we have all come to expect in a modern world that’s rife with cost-cutting measures and overworked, untrained staff. 

My guess is that both suits will be dismissed, due to a lack of merit.