What’s worse than finding a cockroach in your Big Mac? Finding a half eaten cockroach in your Big Mac.
That’s the unfortunate situation that Annah Sophia Stevenson from Blenheim, New Zealand, allegedly found herself in last weekend. Ms Stevenson says that she was eating the McDonalds burger at home when she thought she’d found some gristly meat. She removed the offending object from her mouth only to find it was a cockroach.
“I pulled it out and it was a bug – half there and half chomped,” she said. She then goes onto explain that “the guts were hanging out and it had a big hole in the middle of it.”
For someone who’s usually a “clean eater” who “soaks broccoli in salt water because I’m scared of bugs”, Ms Stevenson was, of course, horrified. After finding the insect she spat it out and went to the bathroom where she retched and vomited into the sink. She then attempted to use a toothbrush but kept finding black crispy shell stuck between her teeth.
“I just couldn’t cope, it felt like every time I swallowed I was swallowing bits of it,” she explained.
No evidence of pests found
Simon Kenny, Head of Communications from McDonalds confirmed that the incident is being investigated.
“We take any complaint regarding food safety very seriously,” he said. “The franchisee has contacted Annah and is organising to pick up the Big Mac so that they can investigate further.”
However, Ms Stevenson has since asked for and received the burger back as she would prefer to get it independently tested. “I don’t know if I’m being overly suspicious, but I didn’t want McDonald’s to be connected to the only evidence,” she explained.
An Environmental Health Officer (EHO) from Marlborough District Council visited the offending store on Monday but found no evidence of pests.
Foreign objects in McDonalds food
This isn’t the first time that unwanted ingredients have turned up in McDonalds food.
Earlier this year we reported on the presence of vinyl with Japanese chicken nuggets and rusty rings being discovered in a cheeseburger in Auckland, New Zealand.
Customers in the US have reported finding razor blades and marijuana in their McDonalds food, and a Canadian man had the delight of allegedly finding a dead mouse in the bottom of his coffee cup.
Next steps for the cockroach incident
Ms Stevenson has the burger and bug stored in her freezer at home and has contacted Marlborough District Council about independent testing.
She has confirmed that she would prefer not to be compensated with McDonalds vouchers.