Stomach-turning footage has emerged of a cockroach flailing over fries about to be served to customers at a NSW McDonald’s.
The video from inside the fast food location in Broadmeadow, Newcastle, showed the distressed bug trying to escape from underneath the heat lamp and salted chips.
That and other images, obtained by newy.com.au, also revealed an ‘infestation’ of bugs throughout the McDonald’s location.
Cockroaches were snapped on top of bins, dead on tiles and behind chairs in the seating area while dozens of maggots were spotted around a dustpan.
One customer was so disgusted they discarded their meal after being shown the footage.
‘I couldn’t be f***ed going back in, I’m already late, and that video has ruined my dinner,’ the customer said.
A number of social media users also raised their concerns over the cleanliness of the location after the video was posted to Facebook.
‘I won’t be going there to buy food anymore,’ one wrote.
A second said vermin wouldn’t be in the store if ‘pest services are done right and cleaning is done properly’.
‘Oh my goodness, this is disgusting,’ a third wrote.
‘Wow definitely won’t go to any Maccas now, stuff that,’ a fourth wrote.
Others were left petrified after eating at the location in recent days.
‘WTF, the kids ate there last night,’ a fifth wrote.
McDonald’s issued a statement soon after expressing ‘disappointment’ in the cleanliness of the location.
‘This clearly falls short of McDonald’s strict food safety, quality and hygiene standards,’ a spokesman said.
‘We have taken immediate action at McDonald’s Broadmeadow, including a thorough professional pest inspection and installation of additional pest control measures.
‘We’ll continue to work closely with the restaurant, to ensure our customers can feel confident in our commitment to food safety, quality and a great customer experience.’
It comes just months after a female McDonald’s worker was caught on camera drying a mop head under a fries warmer.
The employee was filmed holding what appears to be a detachable, microfibre mop head underneath a heat lamp, just centimetres from a box of fresh fries at a McDonald’s in Booval, a suburb in the city of Ipswich, 30km south-west of Brisbane.
Daily Mail understands the staff member has been spoken to by management but will keep her job.
A video of the incident, which was first published by Facebook page Subtle Bogan Hints, quickly went viral online with many users making light of the situation.
‘So that’s where the flavour comes from…’ quipped one.
Another said they ‘bet the mop head is warmer than the fries’.
‘The old McMop is back! Must be limited time-only – get in while they are hot,’ joked another.
A McDonald’s spokesman said the company takes food safety ‘extremely seriously’ and followed strict cleaning and hygiene procedures in all restaurants.
‘We have addressed this with the restaurant directly and conducted thorough re-training for all employees on McDonald’s sanitisation, hygiene and food safety procedures,’ they said.
‘This was an isolated incident, and we will continue to work with the restaurant to ensure this does not happen again.’