McDonald’s Customers Have Been Finding Cleaning Solution In Their Coffee, Restaurant Chain Investigating
McDonald’s has been making headlines a lot lately and it hasn’t been for anything good. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the fast-food chain made the mistake of serving a customer named Sarah Douglas – pregnant with her third child – cleaning fluid instead of the latte she ordered.
According to CBC News, while the owner of the store explained what happened and how it was just a terrible accident – it wasn’t an isolated incident.
“What happened is that the machine was being cleaned – as it is every morning,” the store owner explained in an apologetic statement released to several media outlets. “Unfortunately, the milk supply line was connected to the cleaning solution while this guest’s drink was made.”
Speaking to CBC News, a man from Red Deer found the news of the store accidentally serving cleaning fluid to a pregnant customer to be especially shocking as the same thing had previously happened to him. According to Corey Irwin, he purchased a latte from the McDonald’s on 22nd Street in Red Deer on December 19 of last year.
He recalled driving to work when he took his first sip of the latte before immediately spitting it out when he got a mouthful of cleaner instead of coffee.
“I took a sip of it and realized right away that it wasn’t coffee, that there was a chemical. Sort of caustic because I could feel my tongue going a bit numb.”
On his way to work, Irwin didn’t have time to return to McDonald’s to confront the restaurant about the issue. Instead, he took a picture of the light-brown “coffee” and saved what was still in the cup for when he could go back after he got off work.
A pregnant woman was given cleaning fluid in her coffee at McDonald’s. https://t.co/QWE10Ss7zb
— HuffPost Weird News (@HuffPostWeird) August 2, 2018
After returning to the McDonald’s to complain about what happened, the store assured him the problem would be fixed. Receiving this assurance, made him that much more surprised to hear about Douglas having the very same experience.
“It’s disappointing. Obviously, they have to have changes come up from higher above,” Irwin said to CBC News. “Maybe the particular location where I went might’ve got their act together, but I mean, McDonald’s worldwide might have to take some steps to ensure other people don’t get hurt.”
Corey recalled the manager offered him an apology, a gift card, and a voucher to clean the chemicals he spit out in his vehicle. He was also offered reassurance that it wouldn’t happen again. CBC News did attempt to reach out to the owner of the store Corey was served cleaning fluid at, but the owner declined.
Federal health officials have reported an additional 109 cases of cyclospora infection in an ongoing outbreak linked to McDonald's salads that began in May, bringing the total to 395. At least 16 of the sick individuals have been hospitalized. https://t.co/7AP21tbm8w pic.twitter.com/lMlsQHLkUG
— CNN (@CNN) August 3, 2018
As the Inquisitr has also previously reported, McDonald’s was also in hot water for serving a tainted salad that made more hundreds of people sick. McDonald’s did cease selling salads and announced they were looking for a new provider. Fresh Express – the previous provider – also released a statement that while they were investigating the issue, McDonald’s decision to look for a new provider should not put all of the guilt on the provider as the source of the problem.
While McDonald’s Canada did not confirm whether the incident Corey recalled happened, they did confirm in a statement via email that they will be looking into the issue. They also did confirm there have been several isolated – similar – incidents to what happened with Douglas.
McDonald's apologized after accidentally serving a latte laced with cleaning fluid to a pregnant woman. https://t.co/HlMIXL5SA8
— Us Weekly (@usweekly) August 3, 2018
“The health and safety of every guest is McDonald’s and our franchisees’ absolute priority. We are aware that there are other isolated incidents of this nature. Even one incident is too many,” McDonald’s Canada spokesperson Laura Munzar explained in an email to CBC News.
“While the specialty coffee machines and usage procedures are of the highest industry standards, we are immediately [reinforcing] proper cleaning procedures with all McDonald’s restaurants.”
Corey and Douglas both echo sentiments that they were extremely lucky they hadn’t actually swallowed any of the cleansers as they both could have been seriously injured. Irwin noted he no longer orders drinks from McDonald’s in the morning and always smells his beverage before taking a sip.
