A popular fast food chain said that it is investigating the case of a customer of one of its Metro Manila branches whose iced coffee contained insects.
Facebook user Riggs Calalang claimed that he discovered insects almost halfway through his beverage which he ordered from McDonald’s Forbes Town branch at Bonifacio Global City on November 4.
“‘Di ako usually agad naniniwala sa mga ganitong nakikita kong post, pero iba pala ‘pag ikaw mismo makakaranas first hand,” he wrote on Facebook.
Calalang said he noticed something “crunchy” while drinking and initially thought it was just an unground coffee bean.
“‘Pag check ko, may surprise pala. Kala ko happy meal, ‘yun pala insect. So malas, ‘yung crunchy na inakala ko, mukhang nainom ko na kapatid [nitong] mga ‘to,” he added.
Calalang said the incident made him temporarily stop his drive to pause and take photos of what happened.
“Baka gusto niyo linisin mga cups niyo or coffee maker niyo. Nakakadiri. And wala naman akong mapapala at habol sa inyo, gusto ko lang, pakilinis niyo naman para ‘di ma-experience ng iba,” he said.
Another Facebook user claiming to be his friend reshared his post and warned the public about the incident.
“This could be an isolated incident, but it’s possible that this could also be happening in your other branches that are not strictly adhering [to] your food safety and sanitation guidelines,” a pop culturist identifying himself as “RoySight Studio” wrote.
“This incident happened to one of my friends. The issue was brought to the attention of the particular McDo branch, but there [sic] no further communication was received after he gave them the required details, which is not really new to these huge fast-food chains,” he added.
Calalang’s friend also claimed that Calalang and his other friend “have started to experience stomach aches” after consuming the drinks.
RoySight’s post has earned 7,900 likes and reactions, 1,700 comments, and 2,600 shares.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s said that it is conducting an “internal investigation” following the reported incident.
“We have been in contact with the customer as soon as we received the feedback. Internal investigation is ongoing as well,” Adi Hernandez, McDonald’s Philippines’ assistant vice president for corporate relations and impact, said in a statement sent to Interaksyon.
“We offered the customer assistance in the form of product replacement and reimbursement for medical expenses, if needed,” she added.
“Rest assured that at McDonald’s, nothing is more important than the safety and quality of the food we serve,” the McDonald’s executive said.
The Food Safety Act states that food business operators “shall ensure that food satisfies the requirements of food law relevant to their activities in the food supply chain and that control systems are in place to prevent, eliminate or reduce risks to consumers.”
