A Florida police officer is walking back on his comments claiming there was dirt on his Burger King sandwich after the “dirt” turned out to be seasoning, The News-Press reports.

Last week, Officer Tim McCormick took to Facebook to publicly accuse a Fort Myers Burger King employee of serving him a dirty burger.

“I was the officer who was served a burger at Burger King at 4004 Cleveland Avenue in Ft. Myers with dirt in it,” McCormick wrote. “At first I thought it was just burned old bacon, I was hungry and ate the burger, at the last bite I saw dirt and grit on the burger. In disgust, I threw it out of the window.”

The post spawned the hashtag #BoycottBurgerKing and generated more than 20,000 shares. 

Quality Dining Inc., the franchise that operates the Burger King restaurant was quick to respond. “This has my full and undivided attention,” said the company’s CEO and chairman Dan Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick had the Fort Myers Police Department review surveillance video of the kitchen the day the officer received his meal. They later determined nothing inappropriate happened to the food. 

Fitzpatrick explained that a salt and pepper blend is applied to the burger before it is cooked. He said the spice mixture and the grilling process may have left something on the burger that might have tasted like dirt.

According to Fitzpatrick, the officer has promised to issue a retraction to his Facebook post.

“Here’s what I’ll tell you: police officers, first responders, military people, they are being ridiculed by the media and in social media at a level that is unprecedented,” Fitzpatrick said. “Whatever the conditions were, the fact that my employees were improperly accused, I should give this officer, because of his service, the benefit of the doubt, forgive and move on. I respect this officer and his department. We love police officers. I’m not happy that this happened, but at the end of the day, we’re moving on.”