For most people, coffee has become a vital part of their morning routine. While some would drink it to perk them up for the rest of the day, some just simply find pleasure in it and could not start the day without a cup of their favorite brew.
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And when it comes to getting a quick cup of coffee, some people would turn to McDonald’s. They offer good-tasting coffee at a very affordable price. But for this woman, her usual coffee run at McDonald’s almost cost her her life.
Meet Sara
Sara Douglas is a mother of two lively kids and is pregnant with her third one. The mother from Lethbridge, Alberta, had just dropped off her son at his baseball tournament when she was feeling very exhausted.
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She was eight months pregnant and as she shuffled into her car, she just felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. As Sara drove, she saw McDonald’s famous gold arches from a distance. It shined brightly like a beacon of hope and Sara did not hesitate to head that way. She was craving a good large cup of coffee.
Coffee lover
Like most people, Sara takes her coffee fix seriously. As a mom of two active kids, she needs her pick-me-up. She even asked her doctor if there was a way that she could still have her morning coffee even if she was pregnant.
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The doctor told her that if she must continue her coffee habit, she should limit herself to just one cup of coffee per day. The baby will still be able to grow up healthy and strong with that intake.
A frequent customer
Sara pulled up to the drive-thru window and placed her order for a large cup of coffee. In fact, getting her coffee from McDonald’s was a morning routine for her that the servers at the window already know her by name.
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As Sara pulled up, the server at the drive-thru window greeted Sara and carefully placed the lid over the paper cup. The server handed it to her with a smile. Sara took it gratefully and waved goodbye before driving off.
The coffee controversy
Sara ordered a large cup of latte and it was served piping hot as usual. Sara always made sure that it would cool down before taking a sip. As she waited for her latte to cool down, she remembered an infamous lawsuit against McDonald’s years earlier that was filed by Stella Liebeck.
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Stella ordered a cup of coffee from McDonald’s but she spilled the hot beverage on her lap as she drove away. She then sued McDonald’s for not giving her a proper warning. And although it was a very petty thing, she miraculously won. It was one case that was remembered as one of the most frivolous lawsuits in history.
Other controversies
But this was not the first time the beloved fast food franchise was involved in a controversial lawsuit. There was a time when the fast food giant had to pull out their salads off their US menu for a disturbing reason. This had affected McDonald’s reputation in the area.
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McDonald’s restaurants in Illinois and Iowa had to pull out the salads because of a foodborne illness called cyclosporiasis, which is an intestinal parasite. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, one-fourth of Illinois cases reported eating salads from McDonald’s days before they became ill.
Feeling safe
But Sara just ordered a cup of coffee. Surely, the controversies that McDonald’s had been through would not affect her. Little did she know that she was able to about to get something more than she bargained for at McDonald’s.
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When Sara felt her latte had cooled down enough for her to drink, she took a small sip from her cup. She was concentrating so much on her driving that she was not able to notice that her coffee tasted differently.
Something was off
As the warm liquid swirled the hot drink around in her mouth for some time, she noticed that there was something different. She noticed her mouth started to prickle and seconds later, it felt like it was on fire. Her tongue felt it has gone numb. She started to feel ill.
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She wondered instantly what was wrong with the coffee. Was the pot left out overnight and it had turned bitter? But it did not make sense. If that was the case, she should not be feeling this ill. Was she having an allergic reaction?
Mouth on fire
As the tingling feeling and burning sensation intensified in her mouth, Sara turned on her hazard lights and pulled over to the side of the road. Once she was safe, she scrambled around the car to get a bottle of water and gulped it down. Her throat and tongue felt like it was on fire.
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Sara tried to rinse off her mouth with the cool water. Then, she took off the lid of her coffee cup and gave it a sniff. Her eyes started to water immediately as soon as the strange smell hit her. What was in her coffee? Was it dangerous?
The need for answers
Sara was 32 weeks pregnant and she immediately thought of her unborn child. She immediately felt mad. She needed to know exactly what was in her coffee. Sara turned her car around and drove back to McDonald’s. She planned to give them a piece of her mind.
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Sara arrived in McDonald’s with her coffee in hand and demanded to see the manager. The cashier at the counter took one look at her and knew that she meant business. The supervisor showed up from the back and told her that the manager in charge was off-duty.
The confrontation
But when the supervisor saw her face and her pregnant belly, he knew that something was seriously wrong. He immediately looked nervous. Sara took off the lid of her coffee cup and thrust it under the supervisor’s nose.
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From the reaction of the supervisor, there was no denying that there was something wrong with the coffee. The supervisor started stammering and told Sara that they would gladly replace the cup of coffee free of charge.
An unacceptable solution
Sara felt a bit insulted that they thought that replacing her coffee would make everything alright. Her mouth was still tingling from whatever was in her coffee. Another cup of coffee is the last thing she needs at the moment. She wanted answers.
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Sara was about to unleash all hell when an employee approached them. The employee said that he might have an idea as to what could have caused the bad taste in the coffee. What really happened turned out to be far more dangerous.
A cocktail of cleaning chemicals
The employee noticed that there was something else hooked up to the coffee machine. The supervisor immediately followed the employee to the coffee machine. What they saw made the supervisor’s face grow pale. So what was wrong with Sara’s coffee?
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The cleaning fluid lines that were being used for the coffee machine’s daily cleaning were still attached to the coffee machine. Supposedly, when the machine is flushed clean, the hose should be reattached to the milk supply. Sara’s latte got a dangerous mix of cleaning chemicals instead of milk.
Calling poison control
When the supervisor returned to explain to Sara what really happened, she immediately panicked. She asked to see the bottle of cleaning fluid right away and the supervisor obliged. Sara was appalled when she saw that the bottle had multiple warnings on the label.
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Sara immediately took out her phone and dialed the number of the poison control center indicated on the label. The poison control center informed her that the cleaning fluid was acid-based and highly dangerous. They told her to watch out for any symptoms of poisoning.
A close call
Fortunately, Sara did not drink a lot of the coffee. All the symptoms she got were a burning and tingling sensation in her mouth. Although it did not subside for 45 minutes, she was told that she did not need to go to the hospital.
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Sara took a closer look at the coffee cup and Sara noticed that it had been eaten away in the seam. Sara recalled it took a couple of days for the taste and the smell to leave her mind. But she was glad that she did not drink enough to affect her baby.
A public statement
After the incident, Sara received a letter of apology from the owner of the McDonald’s franchise, Dan Brown. They also made a public statement about the incident since media outlets had picked up on it.
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The statement started with “McDonald’s is renowned for its food safety protocols and I am sorry that this happened in my restaurant here in Lethbridge.” Dan assures the public that “We have taken immediate action to review the proper cleaning procedures with the team and have put additional signage up as an added reminder.”
Not the first instance
But this is not the first time someone had received a tainted drink from McDonald’s. Back in 2015, Reserve Officer Paul Watkins was in a similar situation as Sara’s. Paul was using the self-serve station at McDonald’s.
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Paul filled his cup with iced tea as he usually does. He noticed that it looked darker than usual but he just shrugged the observation off. Paul took a big gulp from his cup and immediately felt his mouth and throat burn.
Degreaser drink
Paul immediately went to the girl at the counter and told her that something was wrong with the iced tea. It turned out that McDonald’s staff were cleaning the lines of the iced tea dispensers that day with a degreaser.
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Unfortunately, they forgot to place a paper cup over the nozzles to prevent customers from drinking while they were cleaning up the lines. Because of this neglect, Paul ended up drinking iced tea with a heavy-duty degreaser.
Feeling the effects
The irony of it was that the manager also offered Paul a mere replacement of the drink, just as they first did with Sara. Paul refused the free drink and left the premises. But on the drive away from home, he started to feel violently ill.
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Paul pulled on the side of the road and called his wife, Jerilyn Watkins, from his squad car. He told her that he felt like his throat was burning all the way down to his chest. Paul had said that he felt he swallowed bleach.
Long-term damage
An ambulance was called and Paul was rushed to the IU Health Methodist Hospital where he was admitted overnight for observation. Since then, he had been dealing with the long-term effects of drinking the heavy-duty degreaser.
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Paul has had trouble swallowing and has had numerous gastrointestinal problems since then. Jerilyn was very upset about what happened. “My husband has never drank, never smoked, never done drugs. This is just insane.” she cried as she expressed her sentiments in an interview.
Another incident
When Sara’s story came out, another man came forward with another McDonald’s horror story. Corey Irwin from Red Deer recalls buying a cup of coffee from McDonald’s. After taking a sip from his cup, he instantly realized that there was a chemical taste. “It was sort of caustic because I could feel my tongue going numb,” Corey recalled.
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Corey took a picture of what was left of his drink and reported it to the staff in McDonald’s. He was told that his complaint will be escalated and the matter would be dealt with. So, he was a bit surprised when he heard about Sara’s situation just a few months after he went through the same thing.
A dangerous mistake
“It’s disappointing. Obviously, they have to have changes come up from higher above.” Corey said during an interview. “Maybe the particular location where I went might’ve got their act together but I mean, McDonald’s worldwide might have to take some steps to ensure other people don’t get hurt.”
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Corey was dismayed that McDonald’s was not taking this seriously considering how potent the chemical composition of their cleaning agents was. Ingredients included phosphoric acid, citric acid, 2-butoxy ethanol, and methyl-trimethyl-3.
Strong chemicals
The warnings on the label were no joke either. The label warns “Causes serious eye irritation. May cause an allergic skin reaction. Keep out of reach of children. Wear protective gloves/eye protection.”
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Since the instances of these unfortunate incidents have been brought to light, food inspectors are now keeping a close eye on the dispensing machines of McDonald’s. A spokesperson had said that they have investigated the branches involved in Sara’s and Corey’s incidents but they found the dispensers to be satisfactory upon investigation.
Raising awareness
As for Sara, she had a goal to raise awareness about the dangers of negligence in fast food chains. In an interview with the Calgary Eyeopener, Sara said “I want to look out for the children that are going through McDonald’s. Heaven forbid anything was to happen to them.”
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Corey also voiced out his concerns that the problem needs immediate attention and a solution. “I wasn’t really in danger because I didn’t swallow enough. But I mean, I could only imagine that if the concentration was higher, it could have been burning my throat, maybe I would’ve got in a car accident or something like it could have been pretty bad.”
Sound advice
Corey also leaves sound advice for lovers of McDonald’s coffee. Since his experience, Corey has stopped ordering drinks from McDonald’s early in the morning, where the machines were just cleaned. This way, he gets to avoid consuming meals and drinks that were prepared during cleaning time.
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Also, Corey advised to always smell your drinks before tasting them to make sure that it has not been contaminated. If there is something off in your drink, the smell will give it away. This seems like great advice for anyone who still loves their McDonald’s drinks.