McDonald's Customers Discover Earthworms at the Bottom of Their Drinks

McDonald's is working to make sure customers at a western New York restaurant never find earthworms at the bottom of their drinks after a pregnant college student got one in hers last month.

On March 7, Samantha Giles stopped by the Lyons McDonald's drive-through to pick up a quick meal after her classes. After eating, she began decided to chew on one of the ice cubes in her drink, only to find something she did not expect.

"And, at the bottom of it was a big worm," Giles told WROC-TV.

Giles told the outlet she called the McDonald's, met with the manager and filed an accident report. She then called the State Health Department, which picked up the worm and had it tested. However, she never learned how the worm got there.

This was not an isolated incident. On April 10, Justin Confer's daughter told him she discovered a worm at the bottom of her drink.

"I didn't believe her at first. I said 'you're kidding me'...I went over and looked and sure enough, there was a worm in the bottom of her drink," Confer told WROC. "Our family is just...we're absolutely disgusted with it."

Confer said he reached out to McDonald's headquarters and never heard back, while the Lyons McDonald's offered no comment.

"Oh man, I think they ruined it for every fast food place for me," Giles said.

"As far as right now, no...we're sticking to home cooked meals," Confer added.

The State Department Office in Geneva, New York and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office are both looking into the situation, but the McDonald's in question remains open.

After WROC's initial report, McDonald's corporate office issued a statement, adding that the franchise owner is also looking into the issue.

"Serving safe, high-quality food and beverages is my top priority and we have worked with the local Health Department and Police Department to look into this claim," the statement reads. "We're taking this situation very seriously, including action to ensure that this doesn't happen again."

This is not the first time worms have reportedly been found where they should not be at a McDonald's. Back in 2016, at least two Kentucky residents told WPDS-TV they found live worms in their burgers. One of the women was given a $10 gift card after reporting the incident.

There have long been rumors that worms are used in McDonald's meat filler, but as Snopes points out, this is not true at all.

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