McDonald’s customer bites into a metal rod in his burger – as fast food workers express shock at the excuse for how it happened
A man was shocked to find a sharp metal rod in his McChicken after biting down on the classic McDonald’s burger.
His girlfriend anonymously asked for advice on a private social media page after he pulled the inch-long rod out to show her on Wednesday night.
When she took the burger back to the restaurant they offered her a $15 refund or a replacement for the meal.
She said that a worker told her that the metal rod was likely a thermometer probe that had snapped off earlier in the day, which staff had since been looking for.
‘What would you do,’ she asked the group.
A man was shocked to discover a metal rod in the first bite he had taken of his McChicken
After returning the burger to McDonald’s, an employee told his girlfriend that she thought it was a piece of their thermometer that had snapped off earlier in the day
She posted her experience to a private social media group and asked what others would have done in her situation
Her boyfriend only got one bite in before feeling something hard crunch between his teeth.
‘My boyfriend went to take a bite out of his burger and felt something hard,’ she wrote.
The worker told her that the metal rod was simply the end of a chicken probe that staff use to check the temperatures of patties before serving them.
She initially accepted the replacement meal before returning and confessed that they weren’t comfortable eating there again, at which point she got a full refund.
Online users expressed shock that staff had simply accepted that the metal rod was missing and were happy to forget about it.
Multiple former fast food employees and managers said that the woman should contact the store owner.
‘They do temperature checks two to three times a day. It literally might have just happened but how they did not realise when they pulled it out is crazy,’ one former manager said.
‘Ask to speak to the store manager and the franchiser and complain.’
‘They poke the chicken patty only two centimetres in to test the temperature for it to be ok to serve to customers. They don’t poke it the whole way in,’ an old employee added.
‘So for that to be “lost” I call BS.’
‘I used to work as a manager in fast food and they can not have been paying attention when doing their food safety if they didn’t know where the probe went which is so f***ing dangerous,’ another said.
The anonymous woman received dozens of responses which ranged from shocked to passive, with some advising her to complain and others telling her to deal with it
Others dismissed the issue and asked what more can be expected from a place like McDonald’s.
‘People are so dramatic these days, it’s all processed, s*** is bound to get in the food,’ one woman said.
‘I found a greasy bolt in my salad from a café once. I took it back and got a refund and they were sweet about it. S*** happens was my attitude,’ a second agreed.
‘Who cares, people make mistakes,’ said a third.
A few users encouraged the woman to get lawyers involved if her boyfriend was injured by the sharp rod.
McDonald’s uses a thermometer multiple times each day to ensure that the products they are serving are safe for consumption and fully cooked through (pictured, a McChicken)
A McDonald’s spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that they were investigating the incident and that they take food safety very seriously.
‘McDonald’s takes food and drink safety very seriously. We follow strict processes and procedures to ensure the quality of our food,’ the spokesperson said.
‘We are investigating this and encourage the customer to contact our Customer Service team so we can look into it in more detail.’
McDonald’s provides routine temperature checks on everything cooked in-store to ensure that it is safe to serve to customers.
It is not known which restaurant served the tainted McChicken that the anonymous woman returned for a refund.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted McDonald’s for comment.