A McDonald's customer she was left "disgusted" after allegedly opening her burger to find it crawling with flies and maggots. Georgia Poole was shopping at the The Fort in Erdington, West Midlands, with her mum to pick up a new school bag for her sister on Tuesday, September 6.
Once the pair finished looking round the shops, they went to pick up some lunch from the McDonald’s drive-thru next to the retail park at roughly 1.30pm. They paid £20 for their meals and a milkshake before heading home, Birmingham Live reports.
However, as Georgia was tucking into the Big Mac, she heard a buzzing sound which she initially thought was coming from her headphones. After having a look inside the takeaway bag, she claims she opened her Double Cheeseburger - and was left horrified when a fly zoomed out.
Her sister took a look at the burger and then claimed there were maggots in the meal. Georgia said she was "utterly disgusted" and said the buzzing discovery plus maggots left her in total shock.
The 18-year-old said: “I went with my mum to The Fort Shopping Centre. We went to Greggs but there was a massive queue so we said ‘forget that we will go to McDonald’s. It was around 1.30pm and I ordered a Big Mac, a Double Cheeseburger and my mum got a Fillet of Fish and a spicy Italian burger. We went home to eat them."
She continued: "When I was at home I heard a buzzing sound but thought it was my earphones playing up. I ate the Big Mac but then realised it was coming from the bag. When I opened the bag I then thought ‘is it coming from the burger or is it just me?’. I could hear the buzzing and I was just speechless as it flew out. My sister then screamed ‘oh my god, there’s maggots in there’.”
Georgia videoed the burger which had a series of white dots in it, which she claims are maggots. She said the fly and maggots could not have got into the bag outside of the restaurant as the burger and the bag were wrapped up until she went home.
Georgia added: “How they prepare their burgers is disgraceful. I am trying to get my head around how they have wrapped up a live fly. I tried to contact the restaurant but the phone line was busy. So I posted it on Twitter and McDonald’s replied and said they are looking into it further. It has completely put me off going to McDonald’s and buying any takeaway.”
Georgia said she has kept the burger but was reluctant to just give it to McDonald’s and said she would prefer the Food Standards Agency to investigate "as they work independently".
A spokeswoman for McDonald’s said: “We are sorry to hear about the customer’s experience. Food safety is of the utmost importance to us and we place great emphasis on quality control, following rigorous standards to avoid any imperfections.
“We have carried out extensive investigations at the restaurant, including a third party expert, and no issues have been identified. We've asked the customer to return the item to allow us to continue investigations, but this request has been declined. Our customer services team will continue to liaise with the customer to help find a resolution.”
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