An east London McDonald’s has been fined nearly half-a-million pounds after mouse droppings were discovered in a cheeseburger wrapper.
Customer Lisa Honeycomb bought the burger from the drive-through at McDonald’s Leytonstone on October 7, 2021 and found the dropping halfway through eating it.
The BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that when she complained to Waltham Forest Council, inspectors were sent to the restaurant.
They found an ongoing rodent infestation, which included droppings in the food preparation area and a “decomposing” mouse on a mop head.
Food hygiene inspectors ordered the 24-hour branch to close on October 15, citing an “imminent risk to health”.
On Tuesday, at Thames Magistrates’ Court, the fast food giant was ordered to pay £475,000 for violating food hygiene laws.
District Judge Susan Holdham said: “McDonald’s is a very reputable company. When customers go to McDonald’s, they expect and have the right to expect the highest standards in food hygiene.
“This is not some backstreet burger or kebab bar – children go to McDonald’s as a treat.
“The premises was dirty, this was built-up grease and dirt caused by non-existent or ineffective cleaning over long periods of time.”
The court heard that third-party pest control company Ecolab had a contract to inspect the Leytonstone branch for pests twice a month but “missed" obvious signs like a “mummified" mouse on top of a fryer.
The judge said it was also “very serious" that Ecolab could not explain why its most recent visit before the branch was shut down lasted for only half an hour.
However, she described the infestation as “a failing on a local level” and said that McDonald’s otherwise has a "good" food safety record.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said the company apologised “unreservedly” for the hygiene incident and any upset caused.
They added: “We are committed to the highest standards of health, safety, quality and hygiene. In this instance, we fell short of the standards we set ourselves across all our restaurants.”
The restaurant giant was ordered on Tuesday to pay a £475,000 fine, £22,000 in legal costs and a £190 victim surcharge.
Ecolab’s vice president of communications and change leadership Kate Askew said: “We were not in court today and therefore we are not in a position to comment any further and it would be unfair to those involved in the case to do so.
“However, what we can say is that we would not comment on our customers´ operations, and additionally, that in any facet of the work we do, we do it with the utmost concern for health, safety and the environment.”
