McDonald’s Singapore said it has found no “conclusive evidence” to confirm the origin of tiny worms a customer found wiggling in her Filet-O-Fish burger packaging last Friday (July 23).
Ms Patricia Yong, director of operations for the Singapore fast food chain, told AsiaOne in a statement on Tuesday (July 26) that “given the high temperatures at which our food is prepared, it is highly unlikely that larvae or eggs would have survived the cooking process.”
A Facebook Post by Ms Angela Qiqi last Friday said that she noticed wiggling worms after she had finished her burger.
She posted up videos and photos of what appeared to be worms moving about in the burger packaging
Ms Yong said: “At McDonald’s, food safety and quality are our top priorities and we take all feedback relating to the quality of our food very seriously. We have investigated this thoroughly and have also been in contact with the customer.
“We have also engaged two independent pest control agencies to inspect our restaurant and they have found no evidence of pests on the premises.”
She said that regular monthly external pest control maintenance and checks are done and inspection done on top of this.
Packaging suppliers of McDonald’s have also conducted their own investigations and confirmed that the possibility of pests being introduced to the restaurant through the packaging is “extremely unlikely” as the process of manufacturing and storage involves flat packing and temperatures between 48 – 350 °C, said the statement.
Ms Yong added: “At McDonald’s, the well-being and satisfaction of our customers is very important to us, and we recognise high hygiene standards as an integral part of our business. We institute regular cleaning and checks as part of our restaurant food safety processes and take every precaution with our suppliers to ensure that our high standards for food quality are upheld.”
spanaech@sph.com.sg
