An Ohio McDonald’s has been temporarily closed after a customer said he found a crack pipe in his meal.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Columbus-area fast-food restaurant was subjected to an emergency health inspection on Wednesday, where Columbus Public Health found multiple health code violations. The eatery now has until Jan. 4 to correct the issues.
The city health agency became aware of the incident after the customer filed a report with the Franklin County Public Health, which handed the complaint to Columbus since the McDonald’s is in that city.
The customer took to Reddit to reveal exactly what happened, explaining that he purportedly found the crack pipe in his drive-thru breakfast order on Tuesday morning. He then talked to the McDonald’s manager, who proposed a refund. The man said he was really concerned that this kind of thing might “end up in a Happy Meal.” He’s worried for childrens’ safety, particularly because he’s a parent.
“As a local business owner, the safety of my customers and crew is my first priority, and we take this very seriously," Mendoza said in a statement before his store was shuttered. "We’ve begun a thorough internal review of this claim. We have no indication that the item came from our restaurant but are continuing to investigate and have contacted local law enforcement to report the matter.”
An internal review of security footage and interviews with staff “found nothing” that implied the pipe originated from the McDonald’s, the franchise owner said. Following the closure, he issued a statement through McDonald’s corporate that said the location would reopen on Thursday.
However, the health inspection turned up several other violations, including issues with construction, cleaning and sanitizing food surfaces, protecting food from contamination, and more.
The Mendoza company owns and manages 16 McDonald’s restaurants in the Columbus area.
