An Auckland, New Zealand, healthcare worker has been left ‘disgusted’ after finding a maggot in her McDonald’s burger box.

Linda MacDonald had just finished eating an Angus Burger Combo, which she bought from the Pt Chevalier McDonald’s, when a colleague she shared the burger with pointed out something "wiggling" in the box.

The 59-year-old grandmother spat out her remaining mouthful and ran to the toilet to throw up.

"It was awful," she said. "They offered me McDonald’s vouchers, and I told them:

‘No way am I ever going to set foot in there again’. The cheek of it – it’s so wrong."

McDonald’s NZ boss Mark Hawthorne said he did not believe the maggot came from within the restaurant. It was dead when the company conducted tests.