A mum has claimed that part of a McDonald's breakfast she bought after dropping off her kids at school had a bite taken out of it. Lana Taylor said she refused to eat the hash brown after the 'really gross' discovery.
Lana said she stopped at McDonald's in Alvis Retail Park, Coventry, to grab a bite to eat last Tuesday after the school run. The 31-year-old claims she ordered a sausage McMuffin and two hash browns, scoffing one on the drive home, before eagerly sitting down at her desk to finish off her order.
But as she opened the remaining fried potato treat, she fears someone had taken a chunk out of her food as she was confronted with a 'grim' bite-shaped mark. After complaining online, Lana says she is yet to hear back from McDonald's and says she just wrote off the meal as a '99p loss'.
McDonald's said they were 'confident' that the item had not been 'tampered' with and that it had simply broken during the cooking process. The company apologised for the inconvenience.
The mum admits it is possible that the hash brown had broken before it was deep fried, however said that she had believed someone had taken a bite out of it.
Lana, from Coventry, said: "There was a bite taken out of it. It was really gross. I did think for a second 'should I just cut that bit off and eat the rest' but there's been a pandemic. I have a limit.
"Maybe they need a hash brown thief monitor in the kitchen. Maybe if I worked at McDonald's, I might [take a bite]. They're pretty delicious."
Despite the disappointment, Lana claims she wasn't annoyed enough to drive back, but joked McDonald's 'even help you eat your hash brown'.
On Twitter, she wrote: "Aww @McDonaldsUK are so good. They even help you eat your hash brown. Who doesn’t want a hash brown with a bite already taken out of it?"
Lana was then left to start her day's work without eating her full meal, adding: "I dropped the kids off at school and thought I'd have a McDonald's breakfast on my way back to work from home. I'd bought two hash browns and ate one in the car. When I got back, I got the hash brown out ready to finish my breakfast and eat my sausage McMuffin as well.
"I took one out and had it on my lap to eat at the traffic lights. The rest of the bag was untouched. I didn't really think about contacting Trading Standards. I wasn't even annoyed enough to drive back.
"McDonald's didn't get back to me either. I can't be 100% sure that it wasn't just broken. It's just one of those things I'm happy to write off as a 99p loss."
A McDonald's spokesperson said: "Food safety is of the utmost importance to us and we place great emphasis on quality control and follow rigorous standards in order to avoid any imperfections in our food. Having investigated the matter further we are confident that the hash brown was not tampered with before it left the restaurant and simply broke during the cooking process, we are sorry for this inconvenience.
"We would encourage the customer to contact our Customer Services team who can help find a resolution."
