March 12, 2010 9:00am by David Farrar

Maggots and McDonalds

An Auckland healthcare worker has been left “disgusted” after finding a maggot in her McDonald’s burger box.

Linda MacDonald, a mental health carer, had just finished eating an Angus Burger Combo, which she bought from the Pt Chevalier McDonald’s, when a colleague she shared the burger with pointed out something “wiggling” in the box.

The 59-year-old grandmother spat out her remaining mouthful and ran to the toilet to throw up.

“It was awful,” she said. “They offered me McDonald’s vouchers, and I told them: ‘No way am I ever going to set foot in there again’. The cheek of it – it’s so wrong.”

McDonald’s NZ boss Mark Hawthorne said he did not believe the maggot came from within the restaurant. It was dead when the company conducted tests. …

She says she cut the burger with a knife when she shared it with her colleague, but is adamant the maggot did not get there then.

There are many criticisms one can make of McDonalds, but bad hygiene is an unlikely one. It is not impossible of course, but they have a manual which is explicit on every single process, and management are trained to do nothing at all that deviates from the manual. This is bad for innovation, but good for consistency – which is their brand.

So I think it is unlikely the fault is with McDonalds, but do have sympathy for the customer concerned (my guess is the knife) as finding foreign material in your food is one of the most unpleasant experiences you can undergo. I had a Wellington shop prosecuted many years ago when I found a sticking plaster in my meal, as I was cooking it at home. I chucked up the moment I realised exactly what was on the end of my fork. Thank God I had not actually eaten any – that would have been worse.