Not lovin’ it: UK father says his McDonald’s quarter pounder was completely raw

McDonald’s takes a lot of heat about their burgers, yet going back to the initial identified E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in the U.S. in 1982, they’ve somewhat fool-proofed the cooking system and taken steps to reduce risk.

mclovinSo any claims about inadequate cooking should be investigated before passing journalistic judgment.

A father who bit into his McDonald’s burger to find it was completely raw has vowed to never return to the chain.

Byron Thomas, from Northampton, ordered the quarter pounder with cheese meal for £4.69 on Monday evening, and took it back to his car.

But when the 28-year-old eagerly tucked into his dinner, he noticed a strange taste after he had his first bite.

He said he was sickened when he saw that apart from the light brown top layer, the rest of the meal was red raw.

Color is a lousy indictor of beef safety, but it’s promoted by the UK Food Standards Agency, so …

The father-of-two went back in to the branch at the Weston Favell Shopping Centre in Northampton to complain – but said the manager only offered to cook him another burger.

He then claims he was up from 4am on Tuesday being sick.

Mr Thomas, who lives with his partner Gail Mooney, 36, vowed never to eat there again.

Byron, who works as a health and safety trainer on the railways, refused to give the raw burger back to the manager at the McDonald’s branch.

He is now planning on contacting his local environmental health officer to make an official complaint.

royale.cheese.pulp.fictionMr Thomas, who has two sons Kenzie, three, and Kyson, six, and two stepdaughters Katie, 13, and Karley, 16, has also contacted McDonalds’ head office.

He added: ‘I went straight back in there but the manager didn’t look too bothered.

‘He just said ‘sorry I’ll cook you another burger’.

‘But I refused to eat that and refused to give him the raw burger because he wanted to take it away.

A McDonald’s spokesman said: ‘Food safety is our highest priority. We place great emphasis on quality control and follow rigorous standards in order to avoid any imperfections in our food.”

Here’s a possibly better answer: Bryon, we’re sorry, we’re really sorry, and we’ll do everything we can to find out how this happened.”

Who doesn’t buy canned beets from a gas station?

It was somewhere around 2000 when Chapman accompanied me on a two-week whirlwind tour of Australia and New Zealand, speaking on a variety of topics, sampling kangaroo, and initially staying at a bed and breakfast in East Gippsland on a large winery that the owner, Owen, and his wife, moved to after the heart attack in the city.

beetroot.slices.recall.oct.14We thought Owen might have another at the dinner table.

I’d been invited by an ex-pat Canadian and had a chat with about 50 local farmers in the town pub.

But this is about beetroot.

There are some universal truths of travel, and one is that nothing beats an Egg McMuffin at 5 a.m. upon arrival in Melbourne after 30 hours on the move.

We probably had three each.

But I noticed the lunch menu and the inclusion of beetroot on the Big Macs.

What was a beetroot? The part of the beet that grows in the ground that North American’s call beets.

HJ Heinz Company Australia Limited has recalled Golden Circle Beetroot Slices from Coles, Woolworths, IGA, convenience stores and some petrol stations nationally due to the potential for microbial growth. Food products with microbial growth may cause illness if consumed. Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice. The product can be returned to the place of purchase for a full refund.

That’s the only info available, but I’ve wanted to write for so long about beetroot.