One Big Mac and a side of wet mop.
A McDonald’s employee in Australia was caught drying a seemingly wet mop under a heat lamp at the fry station, sparking disgust from customers in the store and online.
On April 4, Debbie Barakat took her son to the Boubar fast food restaurant in the suburbs of Brisbane, Australia, when an employee casually held a mop just inches from the hot lights and french fries. I saw it.
“I was just standing there waiting for my order and I looked around and I heard the staff say, ‘We don’t want to do that because it could catch fire and it could be a safety issue. I don’t think it should be done,” the woman said. Yahoo! News Australia.
Barakat claimed that other employees worked around the mop dryer for about a minute, then grabbed the fries and completed the order.
“I was completely shocked by what I witnessed, but she just laughed it off,” she said.
The employee had just finished mopping the floor with a removable microfiber mop head and began drying it in front of the customer.
The angry customer sent an email to the store manager about the upsetting behavior, but received only vague responses.
The manager replied, “Please rest assured that we are taking corrective measures to prevent similar behavior from happening again.”
According to the newspaper, a spokesperson for McDonald’s Australia said this was an isolated incident.
“McDonald’s takes food safety extremely seriously and follows strict cleaning, disinfection and sanitation protocols in all of our restaurants,” the company said.
The chain will be stepping up employee training, so employees caught up in this unsavory behavior will apparently keep their jobs.
“We discussed this matter directly with the restaurant and conducted thorough refresher training for all employees on McDonald’s sanitization, hygiene and food safety procedures,” the company added.
While many social media users were similarly and understandably disgusted by what they were seeing, others made fun of the scene.
“Maybe you could sweep the fries on the floor to see how they taste,” one person wrote, along with a vomit emoji.
“When I worked there (at McDonald’s), I was surprised at the number of safety and health violations that were committed,” he added.
“So that’s where the flavor comes from,” one person joked.
“Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed mop,” a third person wrote.
“The old McMop is back! You must enter only during a limited time [they’re] hot. “
