Tag Archives: Mcdonalds

‘I would rather eat my own diarrhea’ #McDStories McDonald’s Twitter campaign backfires

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The social media thing sounds sorta cool until customers complain that your food makes people vomit, you serve pig meat from gestation crates and a burger containing a finger nail.

And it’s all on Twitter for anyone to see.

Jumping on the social media bandwagon, McDonald’s last week launched a campaign featuring paid-for tweets, which would appear at the top of search results and designed to get people to share touchy-feely nostalgic stories about the fast food chain.

The company only promoted the hashtag #McDStories for two hours, during which Twitter users told stories of finding gross things in their food, unclean restaurants, and bad experiences working for the chain.

McDonald’s social media director Rick Wion says of the incident, "We’re learning from our experiences." And they will. And become even more profitable.

Former Philly McDonald Employee’s video shows mice in a bun bag – but was it served?

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I’ve only ever seen a mouse at a restaurant once. I was visiting Halifax (that’s in Canada) and had dinner at a popular downtown eatery, Alfredo, Weinstien and Ho’s (the ultimate Italian-Deli-Asian food experience – which has apparently closed). For about 10 minutes we saw a mouse dart in and out of view grabbing food from the floor. After flagging our server down and alerting him to the mouse, he and the manager discretely moved some furniture and the mouse fled the room. The manager came over, thanked us for not making a scene and comped all of our meals (but said we had to pay for our bar tab); not a bad deal.

While mice infestations and droppings elicit a yuck-factor response from TV personalities and guests, I’d prefer to know about how well the staff manages the recognized foodborne illness risk factors: improper cooking temps; improper storage/holding temps; handwashing and hygiene; cross-contamination and safe sources.

In an excellently-titled post, I’m Ralphin’ It of the Day, The Daily What has a video of a mouse problem at a Philly McDonald’s. The video, taken by former employee Karruim Demaio shows a mouse running through a Big Mac bun bag. Pests (rodent and insect) are often a problem for food businesses. Warm, dark places with lots of food is a good spot for a mouse or flies to live. It’s not surprising that there are mice in a storage room.

What is surprising is that Demaio says a manager told him to brush droppings off of the buns and serve them. He says the same manager was seen wiping off pest droppings in the past.

Who knows whether the brush-and-serve actually happened – but that’s where the risk discussion lies. It’s not really a problem until the food makes it to a patron. Identifying a pest problem and dealing with it (which might have happened) happens in a business with a good food safety culture; brush-and-serve doesn’t. All the video shows is that a mouse was there.

Video Shows Mouse In Bag Of Big Mac Rolls: MyFoxPHILLY.com

’No boogers in my burgers’ Conn. workers want sick days for food safety

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Fresh off the firing of seven union workers protesting for sick days at Jimmy John’s in Minnesota, 25 people rallied outside a Connecticut McDonald’s last week in support paid sick days with slogans like, "No boogers in my burgers."

Holding signs with slogans including, "No coughing in our coffee," protesters called on the company to support paid sick days legislation for public health and low-wage workers.

The Trefz Corp., which owns 43 McDonald’s restaurants in Connecticut and New York, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is in favor of paid sick days and a bill that would require businesses with 50 or more employees to provide an hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked has been reported out of committee.

One recent study published by the Journal of Food Protection found that one in eight food service workers reported coming to work sick twice in the last year, with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea.

Hepatitis scare at Alberta McDonald’s

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As I told my daughter before she went on a high school graduation party in the Dominican Republic, get vaccinated for hepatitis A.

Alberta Health Services issued a release earlier today reporting an employee from the Scenic Drive McDonald’s downtown in Lethbridge, Alberta (that’s in Canada) has been diagnosed with hepatitis A.

Anyone who ate there 20–22 August 2010 may have been exposed and should see his/her physician.

Alberta Health Services will be offering vaccine through clinics at the West Pavilion of Exhibition Park today from 1:30–19:00, tomorrow from 9:00–15:00, and Sunday from 9:00–15:00. The vaccine is effective if administered within 14 days of exposure only.

Alberta Health Services believes the employee contracted the disease while travelling abroad.

Fast food drives Americans crazy; Ohio woman wants her Chicken McNuggets

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The story may be old, but, as noted by Faded Tribune, the video is new and over the top.

And they can’t seem to get enough of it on the news stations here in Australia.

Footage from a surveillance camera at a McDonald’s in Toledo, Ohio shows an unhinged woman punching two workers and smashing the drive-through window because she could not get Chicken McNuggets in the wee hours of New Year’s Day.

For the vandalism, 24-year-old Melodi Dushane was sentenced last month to 60 days in jail, three years of community service and ordered to pay more than $1500 for the damage. She said she had been drinking and suffers panic attacks, which she blamed for leading up to her rampage.
 

Label old beef(s)

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I have a friend who was a dairy farmer for decades and he refused to eat at McDonald’s.

He likes hamburgers and all, he just couldn’t stand the thought of his spent Holsteins being served as a Big Mac.

Some types in the Australian beef industry feel the same way.

The Courier Mail in Brisbane reports that backers of truth-in-labeling legislation aimed at ensuring old cow meat is clearly labeled as such are concerned industry representatives will succeed in destroying the intent of the legislation.

They are worried that a register being drawn up in response to the legislation will only make buying beef in the supermarket even more confusing for consumers.

Once passed, the terminology would apply to meat sold in supermarkets and butchers around the country.

Consultant to the truth-in-labelling legislation, Norman Hunt, said vested industry interests who did not want consumers to realize they were buying beef from old cows were to blame.

The Aus-Meat domestic retail beef register, drawn up earlier this month, is proposing to change the much-maligned "budget" label, used to describe beef from cattle 10 years old, to "economy".

Under existing law in Queensland, abattoirs must label old cow meat "manufacturing" grade but retailers are then able to market it as prime cut under the "budget" grading.

Government adviser, Red Meat Advisory Council secretary Justin Toohey said it was impossible to provide a guide to eating quality of meat to consumers based on a whole of animal approach, adding,

"The trouble is every muscle has to be graded individually for this sort of thing to be a success. An eye-fillet from an eight-tooth cow could be beautiful eating, for example."

McDonald’s to recall 12 million ‘Shrek’ glasses, citing cadmium health risks

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Mike Myers, Canadian and voice of Shrek, what do you have to do with this?

McDonald’s will recall about 12 million "Shrek" drinking glasses because federal regulators found they contain the toxic metal cadmium, which poses health risks.

The glasses have been sold for $2 apiece at McDonald’s restaurants across the country as a promotional tie-in with the movie "Shrek Forever After." Purchasers will be advised to keep them away from children and to return them to McDonald’s for a refund.

The recall, which will be officially announced Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, was set in motion by an anonymous tip to Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) last week. She alerted the commission, which tested the glasses and confirmed the presence of cadmium in the paint used for the decorative characters. Cadmium is a carcinogen and can cause kidney, lung, intestinal and bone damage.

Speier’s office said McDonald’s voluntarily agreed to recall the glasses at the urging of the commission.

There’s a maggot in my McDonald’s

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??“I found a maggot in my cheeseburger.”

So says Robert Comitz who was eating at the McDonald’s on Route 113 near Route 309 in Hilltown, Pennsylvania.

“There was nothing in that kitchen that would make us suspicious of anything.”

So says Dr. David Damsker, the health department’s director, following an inspection of the fast-food joint.

“We’re not sayin nothin.”

That’s what the McDonald’s franchise owner meant by saying nothing when called by reporters.

Comitz said he kept the maggot and is considering filing a lawsuit.?? One of the reasons is because of the response from the restaurant, he said.?? “They think it’s nothing, like you made the story up or something.”
 

You want a maggot with that McDonald’s?

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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.

McDonald’s restaurant rage sweeps the nation

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Maybe it’s the weather. The U.K. is in the midst of its biggest snowstorm in 40 years but at least it’s not -10F, like it’s going to be in Kansas this week.

Whatever the reason, Kansas City police want to know the identity of a woman who trashed a McDonald’s restaurant Dec. 27 because she hated her hamburger.

According to police, when the woman complained about her hamburger, employees offered to replace it. She demanded her money back. Employees declined.

So the woman threw a glass water dispenser over the counter, breaking it. She pushed three cash registers off the counter, smashing one touch screen. She cursed and fled.  The video is below.

In Toledo, Ohio, police say a woman punched through a McDonald’s drive-through window, taking swipes at a couple of employees, because Chicken McNuggets weren’t available — at 6:20 a.m.. Police say 24-year-old Melodi Dushane was treated for injuries, and jailed.