"The charge is grisly enough to qualify as folklore - a culinary creepypasta that's been circulating since at least 2012, when a "This American Life" segment explored whether ersatz calamari might actually exist. The hosts never found proof that anyone, let alone Olive Garden, served such a thing, but the story's unforgettable texture - literal and metaphorical - lodged deeply in the public imagination."
"By 2016, Olive Garden's social-media team was still fielding questions. "Our calamari is absolutely real squid," they replied on X (formerly Twitter), like a lifeguard assuring you that no, there are no sharks in the public pool. Yet the rumor persists, probably because it's a perfectly baited hook for an urban legend: Half plausible, half hilarious, and faintly moralizing. Urban legends thrive where trust falters, and the food world is full of them."
An enduring rumor alleges Olive Garden's fried calamari is actually pig rectum, a grisly charge that has circulated since at least 2012. Investigations, including a "This American Life" segment, found no proof that restaurants served ersatz calamari, and Olive Garden's social-media team publicly affirmed its calamari is real squid. The rumor persists because it combines plausibility, humor, and moralizing tone, tapping into widespread unease about unknown ingredients in chain-restaurant fare. Comparable food myths have targeted McDonald's, Pop Rocks, and Taco Bell, illustrating how urban legends flourish where trust in the globalized food system falters.
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