A mum refused to eat her McDonald's hash brown as she believed a bite had been taken out of it before she bought it.
Lana Taylor had been to drop her kids off at school last Tuesday when she stopped at McDonald's to get some breakfast. The 31-year-old said 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 feared someone had taken a chunk out of her food as she was confronted with a "grim" bite-shaped mark. After complaining online, Lana said she didn't hear back from McDonald's and says she just wrote it off as a "99p loss".
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McDonald's said it was "confident" the item, purchased at the restaurant at Alvis Retail Park, Coventry, had not been "tampered" with and that it had simply broke\n during the cooking process. The fast food giant apologised for the inconvenience.
The mum admits it is possible the hash brown had broken before it was deep fried however said she believed someone had taken a bite out of it. Lana said: "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.
Though she added: "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".
Tweeting the fast food giant, she said: "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 then began her working day without finishing the meal. She said: "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."
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