Finger Food: Chili at Wendy's

YUM!

If you buy lottery tickets, opt for the raffle at the firemen's pancake breakfast, or save your change for the slot machines, why wouldn't you order chili at Wendy's?

Following the reported discovery of a human finger about an inch and a half in length in a bowl of chili from a Wendy's fast food restaurant in San Jose, California, diners have made other choices. Despite the fact that the woman who fingered the chili has a history of suing (including a suit against another fast-food restaurant) and none of the restaurant employees were missing any fingertips, sales from Wendy's restaurants have dropped so drastically that the company has had to lay off staff and cut back hours of operation in Northern California.

The efforts to locate the former owner of the finger read like an episode of CSI. The fingerprint failed to find a match in national databases, so now they're doing DNA tests. A woman in Arizona whose detached digit vanished from the hospital came forward to have her DNA tested. One problem: her missing fingertip is only 3/4 inch long, so unless it grew mysteriously in the chili-pot, it's not hers.

Wendy's International's corporate office initially offered $50,000 reward for information leading to the resolution of this mystery, then doubled it to $100,000 this weekend as their business continued to decline. It is apparently a woman's finger, well-manicured and polished. Police have declined to say which finger it is. Judging by its effect on chili sales, though, one can guess.

According to Todd Wilbur of Top Secret Recipes, "Dave Thomas, Wendy's founder, has been serving this chili since 1969, the year the first Wendy's opened its doors."

But then he adds, "Over the years the recipe has changed a bit..."
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