Heavily pregnant woman orders latte at McDonald's and is given cup of cleaning fluid
by: Christina Caron, Independant
A McDonald’s franchise in Canada has apologised after serving a pregnant woman a cup of cleaning fluid instead of coffee, a mistake the company said has occurred in the past with other customers.
Sarah Douglas, 31, who is eight months pregnant with her third child, ordered a medium latte at a McDonald’s in Alberta, Canada, on the way to her son’s baseball tournament.
Driving on the motorway shortly after, she flipped open the spout on the lid and took a sip and immediately, she knew something was wrong.
“It just felt like my mouth was burning,” she said.
Ms Douglas pulled over to a ditch on the side of the road and “immediately spat all of it out,” she said. Then she pulled off the lid and realised “it wasn’t a latte at all”.
The cup was about three-quarters of the way full with a “murky brown” liquid, she said. “You could tell that it had kind of been eaten away at the seam.”
She quickly drove back to the restaurant and told the supervisor that she had just drank a chemical.
“He asked if I wanted another latte,” she said. “I said, ‘Absolutely not.’”
Another worker soon discovered that the latte machine was hooked up to a cleaning solution used to remove milk residue.
Dan Brown, the owner of the franchise, later called Ms Douglas to apologise and issued a statement on the matter.
“McDonald’s is renowned for its food safety protocols and I am sorry that this happened in my restaurant here in Lethbridge,” Brown said.
“What happened is that the machine was being cleaned – as it is every morning. Unfortunately, the milk supply line was connected to the cleaning solution while this guest’s drink was made,” he said.
“We have taken immediate action to review the proper cleaning procedures with the team and have put additional signage up as an added reminder.”
Ms Douglas asked to photograph the cleaning agent, and an employee brought her the jug. He was wearing rubber gloves, she said, and for good reason.
The chemicals cause “serious eye irritation” the label warned, and “may cause an allergic skin reaction.”
Ms Douglas called poison control and learned that this particular cleanser was acid-based, she said, but she didn’t have any symptoms that would require a trip to the hospital.
She had a fuzzy, burning sensation in her mouth that didn’t disappear for at least 45 minutes.
“It took a couple of days for the smell and the taste to even leave my mind,” Ms Douglas said.
by: Christina Caron, Independant
A McDonald’s franchise in Canada has apologised after serving a pregnant woman a cup of cleaning fluid instead of coffee, a mistake the company said has occurred in the past with other customers.
Sarah Douglas, 31, who is eight months pregnant with her third child, ordered a medium latte at a McDonald’s in Alberta, Canada, on the way to her son’s baseball tournament.
Driving on the motorway shortly after, she flipped open the spout on the lid and took a sip and immediately, she knew something was wrong.
“It just felt like my mouth was burning,” she said.
Ms Douglas pulled over to a ditch on the side of the road and “immediately spat all of it out,” she said. Then she pulled off the lid and realised “it wasn’t a latte at all”.
The cup was about three-quarters of the way full with a “murky brown” liquid, she said. “You could tell that it had kind of been eaten away at the seam.”
She quickly drove back to the restaurant and told the supervisor that she had just drank a chemical.
“He asked if I wanted another latte,” she said. “I said, ‘Absolutely not.’”
Another worker soon discovered that the latte machine was hooked up to a cleaning solution used to remove milk residue.
Dan Brown, the owner of the franchise, later called Ms Douglas to apologise and issued a statement on the matter.
“McDonald’s is renowned for its food safety protocols and I am sorry that this happened in my restaurant here in Lethbridge,” Brown said.
“What happened is that the machine was being cleaned – as it is every morning. Unfortunately, the milk supply line was connected to the cleaning solution while this guest’s drink was made,” he said.
“We have taken immediate action to review the proper cleaning procedures with the team and have put additional signage up as an added reminder.”
Ms Douglas asked to photograph the cleaning agent, and an employee brought her the jug. He was wearing rubber gloves, she said, and for good reason.
The chemicals cause “serious eye irritation” the label warned, and “may cause an allergic skin reaction.”
Ms Douglas called poison control and learned that this particular cleanser was acid-based, she said, but she didn’t have any symptoms that would require a trip to the hospital.
She had a fuzzy, burning sensation in her mouth that didn’t disappear for at least 45 minutes.
“It took a couple of days for the smell and the taste to even leave my mind,” Ms Douglas said.

...Unfortunately at the moment, I think the masses do still prefer that type of coffee
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