McDonald’s customer eats unexpected item in a McMuffin

Aug 10, 2023

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On her third bite into a sausage and egg McMuffin, Margaret Francic bit into an item that doesn’t feature anywhere on the McDonald’s menu.

The Australian woman stopped in at the restaurant in Hervey Bay last Friday and picked herself and two kids up one of their favorite breakfast treats.

Not far down the road however, Francic felt an uncomfortable itch in her throat.

“I thought maybe it was a bit of hard overcooked egg, but as I swallowed it actually scratched going down my throat,” she told news.com.au.

When she took a closer look at the sandwich, she spotted a bright green foreign object that had been baked into the McMuffin bread.

She immediately turned her around and marched straight back into the shop to alert staff.

“I showed the manager and she said, ‘oh that looks like a worker’s glove,’ which made me feel even worse, because I was imagining the fingers that would have been in it,” she said.

Francic was offered a free replacement meal but was disappointed in what she described as the manager’s “nonchalant” reaction.

“Nothing was said about going up to hospital or getting checked or anything about it coming out the other end. [The medical side] was just ignored,” she said.

Later in the day, Francic raised the issue with McDonald’s headquarters and sent it photos that showed the green glove inside the bread.

She said a staffer at the store then contacted her and asked for photos too, which she found perplexing given she had returned the contaminated burger to the store the day of the incident.

“I thought they must have just thrown it out,” she said, adding she agreed to sending them photos anyway.

“What I wanted to know was how that got there and why I ate it,” she said.

Her throat was still sore three days later and she was nervous about what might happen to her body given plastic was not meant to be consumed.

“My throat was sore in the way it would be if you swallowed something bad – it really hurt,” she said.

“I know I swallowed some, I can just hope that it’s gone through the system and come out the other end. I’m a bit worried about it.”

McDonald’s headquarters had yet to come back to Francic, but she said she was told it would have a resolution for her within 10 days of their conversation on June 30.

A spokesperson from McDonald’s told news.com.au the incident was being investigated.

“McDonald’s takes food and drink safety extremely seriously,” they said in a statement.

“We follow strict processes and procedures to ensure the quality of our food.

“We are disappointed to hear of the customer’s experience and are working with the restaurant to investigate this further.”