Woman ‘won’t be back’ at restaurant

The 21-year-old, who does not wish to be named, claims she was made to feel uncomfortable by members of staff at McDonald’s at Edward Street before she later found a foreign object in her burger.

She told the ‘MAIL’ that after she placed her order, a male member of staff in the kitchen area started to sing a song which she believes was designed to alert other members of staff to her chest.

She explained: “The first one started singing the song and another two of them in the kitchen area moved to where they could see me.

“At the time it happened I didn’t think much of it, but then it sunk in that the song had been about me and they’d been looking at my breasts.

“The more I thought about it the more annoyed I got. Why should I stand by and have that happen to me? There’s some circumstances where you’d turn a blind eye like if you were in a revealing top on a night out. But you don’t expect that sort of thing in a family restaurant.”

The ‘MAIL’ was shown CCTV footage of the woman’s visit to McDonald’s on Saturday afternoon. The camera was focused solely on the counter area and only the alleged victim was visible along with counter staff. It showed none of the alleged behaviour from some of the male members of staff, which the victim says took place in the kitchen area.

The woman was on her way home with her mother when she discovered the object in her burger. She said: “I opened up my cheeseburger and there was a hair in it.”

According to the woman the hair was stuck to the cheese on the outside of the burger.

“I was nearly sick when I saw it,” she said. “Even thinking about it now turns my stomach.

“I went back in and asked to speak to the manager about both things that had happened. The manager wasn’t there but I explained to the girl what had happened and she said she’d report it to him.

“She took the burger off me, but I later was advised by a friend to retrieve the burger as evidence.

“When I spoke to the manager he was very apologetic and said there would be a full investigation.”

She said: “I am totally disgusted and will never be back to that branch of McDonald’s.

“The reason I want to highlight this is to encourage the public who have found or may find foreign objects in their food to report it and to not be afraid to complain. Many people who find such things may just throw their food away and forget about it, but by complaining the complaint will be documented and recorded for the health and hygiene officer to see. Strategies can be put in place to prevent these cases happening in the future.”

The ‘MAIL’ has learnt that Environmental Health are investigating the incident with the foreign object in the burger and were due to call out to see the Lurgan woman on Wednesday and retrieve the burger to carry out tests on the foreign object in it.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Food safety is our first priority and as soon as we were alerted to this claim regarding the cheeseburger, our restaurant team launched an investigation and will cooperate fully with the Environmental Health Agency.

“Regarding the allegation of staff making the customer feel uncomfortable; a thorough investigation of CCTV footage and interview of all members of staff on duty, including the female member who served the customer, does not substantiate the allegation. This is a family restaurant and we take customer care very seriously with all staff fully trained in the area.”