According to investigations, the incident took place at a McDonald's restaurant in Ohio on Tuesday (December 19) when a customer shockingly found a crack pipe known as the "straw" in his breakfast order.
The customer immediately reported to the authorities and posted his horrific finding on Reddit, stating, "Not sure what I should do... Order breakfast from the drive-thru and found a crack pipe in the bag... Luckily I'm an adult and not a child opening a happy meal."
The man emphasized that he felt scared when opened the bag of food containing the crack pipe inside.
Also, he felt lucky that the person who discovered the item was an adult, aware of these disgusting items, instead, a child could be at risk if exposed to it.
Columbus Public Health conducted an emergency health check at the restaurant and discovered many violations of the hygiene regulations of McDonald's at the Ohio branch.
The health inspector indicated customer areas and food preparation areas did not meet the hygiene standards when many construction workers moved freely through without any covered, leading to construction equipment, debris, garbage, and dust being present in the restaurant.
In addition, cleaning and disinfecting food contact surfaces and protecting food from sources of contamination were not conducted following regulations.
“Beverage service equipment such as soda dispensers, frappuccino machines, frozen beverage dispensers, the coffee machine had dust, debris, screws, unassembled computer equipment, and wooden trim pieces on the top surfaces.
“There was no protective barrier between the construction area and the food service area, with cellphones even left on the grill," the report stated.
Responding to the incident, branch owner Alex Mendoza affirmed his the safety of customers and employees is the most important thing.
"We have initiated a thorough internal review of this incident. We do not have any indication that this item came from our restaurant, but we continue to continue the investigation and have contacted local police to report the incident," Mendoza said.
After the incident led to McDonald's temporary closure, the fast-food chain's spokesman stated that the restaurant reopened on December 21.
Currently, agencies are continuing to investigate the origin of crack pipes, while tightening security to prevent the spread of drugs locally and nationwide.
