Report: Pregnant woman served cleaning fluid in her McDonald's latte
A pregnant Canadian woman was reportedly served cleaning fluid when she ordered a McDonald's latte.
reports Sarah Douglas took a swig from her cup at a McDonald’s in Lethbridge, Alberta, expecting to taste her coffee drink. Instead, there was an immediate "burning" sensation.
“My tongue felt fuzzy and my mouth felt almost numb," she recalled.
When Douglas told workers, they discovered that the machine pumping out lattes was still attached to cleaning solution instead of milk.
"I showed [a supervisor] the coffee and he had asked if I wanted a new one, and I said, 'absolutely not, this is unacceptable.' I said 'I need to speak to someone higher up' and he said he was the only supervisor on at the time, and he gave me his manager's phone number," Douglas told
Douglas took a picture of the cleaning solution label so she could inform poison control. The cleaning agent reportedly contains citric acid, phosphoric acid, methy-trimethyl-3, and 2-butoxyethanol.
"Poison control just said they wanted to monitor my symptoms, and that if I was to develop shortness of breath or breathing difficulties or swallowing difficulties, to make sure that I went to the hospital," she said.
She has not yet experienced any symptoms but plans to see her doctor as soon as possible.
Douglas said she hopes sharing her story will keep the incident from happening again.
"As a mother, I want to make sure I have a voice and that I'm being heard in terms of the safety of consumers, and how negligence can affect people in such a drastic way," she said.
Lethbridge News Now obtained a statement from McDonald's External Communications Supervisor, Corporate Relations, Laura Munzar, on behalf of franchisee owner Dan Brown:
"Since learning about the complaint, our team has been in very close contact with the guest and apologized to her. The health inspector also visited my restaurant and is not investigating further. McDonald’s is renowned for its food safety protocols and I am sorry that this happened in my restaurant here in Lethbridge.
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.
We have taken immediate action to review the proper cleaning procedures with the team and have put additional signage up as an added reminder."