It's a running joke with my friends - I am the most likely to be grossed out by foreign things in my food, so inevitably I am always the one to find them. Fortunately, the worst things I've come across are bugs and hair, but that's enough to make me lose my appetite and greatly lessen my faith in the good hygiene of my fellow Americans. Now, if I ever found any of the following nasty things in my food, I would do one of three things, if not all in succession: scream, throw up, and scour my mouth for hours with a toothbrush and Listerine.
Here's hoping we never find things this gross in our good ol' American fast food...
5. Would you like fries with your Band-Aid?
In 2005, a student at the University of Illinois purchased a bag of French fries from the McDonalds in the Illini Union Food Court only to discover a used bandage buried within them. I said a used bandage. She complained and they prepared her a fresh meal, this time putting on gloves. Would've been nice if they had done that the first time.
4. $5 buys you a sub...and a knife!
In 2008 a Queens man went to Subway and purchased a foot-long cold cut sub. After a few bites, he noticed something tasted strange. He felt something hard on the bottom of the bread, so he turned it over and saw a 7-inch knife baked inside the bread. The sharp edge of the knife was facing upward and extended up into the sandwich, so he could have easily bitten down on it had he continued eating. The knife was apparently completely filthy, and the man became violently ill, most likely from food poisoning...and complete disgust.
3. Love those mice from Popeyes
In 2003, a Baltimore man munching on his three-piece chicken meal from Popeyes bit down on something furry. A mouse. Somehow, the rodent had been battered and fried along with one of his pieces of chicken. That particular restaurant had been shut down twice in the past two years for mouse infestation and unsanitary conditions, though, so I guess he shouldn't have been that surprised. I kid, I kid!
2. It's important to practice safe clam chowder preparation
A California woman dining at seafood restaurant McCormick & Schmick's was dissatisfied with her clam chowder, so she sent it back to the kitchen to be reheated. When it was returned, she took a bite and bit down on something rubbery. Thinking it was calamari or shrimp, she spit it into her napkin only to discover that it was a rolled-up condom. She immediately fled to the bathroom and threw up. She then sued them citing emotional distress. The case was settled the day before going to trial.
1. It's probably a delicacy in some countries
I'm pretty sure everyone has heard this one. A woman in Virginia sat down to a fried chicken dinner with her family and amongst the wings came upon a fried chicken head. We're talking the whole head - eyes, beak, little wobbly thing on top, and a few feathers. The manager at the McDonalds offered a free meal - which she rightly refused - and asked that she bring the chicken head back so they could send it to the supplier. Instead, she took it to the local news so it could be televised for all the world to see (photo above).
Bonus! This is not fast-food related, but it is the inspiration for this blog post. Recently an Atlanta woman snacking on her peanut M&Ms encountered one with a particularly hard center. She spit it out and found what a local biology professor has identified as a vertebra from a small mammal. When she called Mars, the candy manufacturer, they told her it was probably a peanut twig, but they are investigating. Goodtimes!
