Woman sues Chili’s over needle in mashed potatoes

Stories of foreign objects found in food tend to spread virally due often to their gross-out nature, or perhaps because the idea of food adulteration is so viscerally unnerving.

There was the guy who claimed to have found a condom in his French Onion soup a few years back, and the unlucky German tourist who claimed to have bitten down on a used tampon in his steak at a New York City hotel. Now 23-year-old Ashley Philips is suing the Chili’s chain of restaurants after she says she found a 2-inch long sewing needle in her mashed potatoes.

Philips says that when she summoned the manager, he walked off with the needle and refused to return it to her for testing. But in addition, her lawyer says, there were indications other things were up with the needle in question:

“We have reason to believe that the needle belonged to a member of the cook staff and was used to clean his marijuana pipe,” attorney Mitch Burns, who is representing Phillips, told the Farmington Daily Times. “We also have reason to believe that there was ongoing usage of marijuana that was known by all the employees and the management.”

Philips had to stop breastfeeding because of the incident, but has since tested clean for several blood-borne infections. The needle was finally released for testing after nearly two months. Chili’s has not commented on the allegations.