Nope, there is no human flesh in processed, ground meat

Ground and processed meats may not always be premium products, but they are not human flesh.

In a Jan. 6 Facebook reel that is sharing a TikTok video, a woman talks with text over the video that says: "So would you like to know why they feed human flesh back to humanity?" The TikTok account no longer exists.

The woman mentions "adrenochrome or the blood or the organs or the glands that is used by the elites for human consumption," which is part of a baseless QAnon conspiracy theory that a global cabal of pedophiles stays young and healthy by harvesting a chemical compound called adrenochrome from the blood of children. 

She also says the "body has to be tortured and put through a lot of fear. That flesh then is fed back to humanity through the fast food industry. Any type of ground or processed meats have human flesh in them."

This Facebook post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

There is no national law specifically banning cannibalism, but the majority of states have enacted laws that "indirectly make it impossible to legally obtain and consume the body matter," according to Cornell Law School.

All processed meat in the U.S. is also regulated and federally inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA lists what ingredients and additives to ground meat are allowed and they are products only from other farm animals, such as levels of fat. 

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"These laws protect consumers by ensuring that meat products are wholesome, unadulterated, and correctly labeled and packaged," according to the agency.

Many states also have their own inspection programs for meat sold within state boundaries.

Similar claims about processed meat, including that McDonald’s serves human flesh, are not new and have been widely debunked. The fast-food giant has affirmed its patties are made of 100 percent real beef.

We rate the claim that "any type of ground or processed meats have human flesh in them" Pants on Fire!