A pregnant woman was left 'disgusted' after she claims to have discovered 'maggots' lurking in her McDonald's Coke Zero - but only after swilling down the whole drink. Natalia Reynolds said she found what she believes are five grub-like creatures in her drink hours after finishing her meal on February 24th, leaving her convinced they were skulking inside the ice cubes.
When she took the offending cup back to the Rawcliffe Road branch of the chain in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, the 27-year-old said staff were left scratching their heads at what the brown worm-like shapes were. The content creator said she declined the offer of another drink, as she's been 'put off' going to McDonald's and will stick to KFC in future.
Since making the grim discovery, 25-weeks-pregnant Natalia claims that despite complaining to the fast food giant on social media and over email she has yet to receive an apology or explanation. McDonald's said the issue had been investigated and they 'did not find any evidence of pest activity' but said they were continuing to liaise with the customer so she could return the 'foreign object' for further investigation.
Natalia, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, said: "I brought the food and drink home from McDonald's, it wasn't until later on in the evening until I noticed the maggots. I was collecting stuff to put in the bin and I picked up the empty cups, looked inside and I was like 'oh my god, there's maggots'.
"There were probably about four or five of them in there. I didn't feel any go into my mouth or notice any difference in the flavour of the drink. I think the maggots were dead. I didn't see any moving but this just makes me think they were in the ice.
"All I can think is that they were in the ice and the ice melted by the end, I definitely didn't swallow any. When I looked into the cup and saw the maggots it was terrifying. It was disgusting and it was awful.
"I was 24 weeks pregnant at the time [now 25 weeks pregnant] and it just made me extra concerned knowing I'd drunk this. I went back to McDonald's that night and said 'I found this in the drink, can you tell me what it is?'
"They couldn't really give me an answer. They were disgusted as well but I didn't get an apology or anything. All the members of staff came to have a look at the drink and basically looked at me in disgust as if to say 'urgh, you drank that?'
"I was thinking 'you should be apologising to me'. There was no remorse or apology. They did say ' can we get you another drink?' but I said 'absolutely not'."
The mum-to-be left the cup and its contents with the McDonald's team and was told it had been sent off for examination - but has yet to be told what they are. Natalia said: "I tweeted about it and McDonald's reached out over email to confirm dates and times, but again, I haven't received an apology or some sort of compensation. I haven't received anything.
"I was told they'd get sent off for examination and they'd let me know when they find out what they are, but I've not heard back yet. I've not been given an alternative explanation of what they could be.
"I have thought 'if this has happened to me, surely it has happened to somebody else'. It's put me off going to McDonald's in the future, I'll just go to KFC."
A McDonalds spokesperson said: "Food safety is of the utmost importance to us and we place great emphasis on quality control, following rigorous standards to avoid any imperfections. When the matter was brought to the attention of our restaurant and Customer Services team we investigated immediately.
"Our approved pest company visited the restaurant and did not find any evidence of pest activity. We therefore asked the customer to return the foreign object to us for further investigation. Our Customer Services Team will continue to liaise with the customer to help find a resolution."
