Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
A McDonald’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, was temporarily closed after a couple alleged they found a crack pipe in their food order. According to The Columbus Dispatch, the incident took place earlier this week.
According to the outlet, an anonymous male customer ordered breakfast from the drive-thru of a McDonald’s located at 619 Harrisburg Pike on Tuesday, December 19. The man alleged that when he and his girlfriend went to consume their food, they found a crack pipe.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that the customer chronicled his experience on Reddit. He explained that after making the discovery, he approached the location’s manager, who offered him a refund.
The customer noted that he brought the item to the location’s attention so that a similar instance wouldn’t occur with a child’s Happy Meal.
Additionally, he forwarded his complaint to the Columbus Public Health Department.
Around the same time, Alex Mendoza, the franchise owner, issued a statement to The Columbus Dispatch regarding the customer’s alleged discovery.
“As a local business owner, the safety of my customers and crew is my first priority, and we take this very seriously,” Mendoza explained. “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.”
According to the outlet, registered health sanitarians arrived at the closed location for an emergency health inspection the following day. The officials allegedly found multiple health code violations prompted by on-site construction.
The outlet notes that repairs were being conducted on the restaurant’s “seating area, front service counter, and beverage service station.”
Additionally, construction workers moved freely through the food prep and customer seating areas. Construction equipment, debris, and trash were also found throughout the location.
“Beverage service equipment such as soda dispenser, frappuccino machine, frozen beverage dispenser, coffee machine had dust, debris, screws, unassembled computer equipment, wooden trim pieces on the top surfaces,” the report states, per The Columbus Dispatch. “Personal cellphones were also observed on top of the grill… There was no protective barrier between the construction area and the food service area.”
Furthermore, the location did not meet cleaning and sanitization standards. It also did not have a manager who demonstrated knowledge of or performed “food safety duties.”
According to The Columbus Dispatch, the McDonald’s location was reopened on Thursday, December 21. A spokesperson for Columbus Public Health has confirmed that the department cleared the restaurant to reopen after being temporarily closed.
Furthermore, the outlet reports that the location has a two-week deadline of Thursday, January 4, to correct its health code violations.
