• Sweden edition

Tooth and nail meet over McDonald's burger

Published: 8 Jan 10 10:49 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/24270/20100108/

A trip to McDonald’s for Gothenburg resident Yusuf Bercil proved more than he could chew after biting into his burger and chomping on a nail two-centimetres in length, Metro reports.

Bercil bought the burger from the McDonald’s restaurant at Stigs Center in Hisingen, just outside Gothenburg.

After taking a first bite, the nail pierced through his gum but the 47-year-old didn't realise what had happened. A painful second helping revealed something sharp had become stuck in his mouth.

”The pain was indescribable,” he told newspaper Metro. Bercil was able to carefully remove the object and was shocked to discover it was a sharp metal nail, about two centimetres long.

”It was stuck between my teeth and gums,” he said. ” I managed to get it out but then I threw up. What if one of my children had got the burger instead?”

Staff at the McDonald’s restaurant in question are unable to explain how the nail ended up in the food.

”We saw the whole thing happen,” manager Axel Gustafsson admitted. "We have started an investigation and informed our suppliers but can only apologise.”

The incident has left Yusuf with a fear of fast food. ”We are going to make home-made burgers from now on,” he added.

TT/Christine Demsteader
news@thelocal.se

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11:55 January 8, 2010 by Kevm
This must be how McDonalds are increasing the iron content of their burgers.
12:07 January 8, 2010 by glaciator
badum chh!
12:17 January 8, 2010 by Svamerikansk
Take a look at the $7million lawsuit by an american woman who spilled coffee from mcdonald's on her lap. That was an unclear issue of negligence. This is cut and dry negligence, but the damages aren't as bad. This guy could win a million or two if he is allowed to bring the suit in district court in the US and can play up his emotional distress (like he did in this article). Ahhh, the american legal system... just another factor in the land of opportunity.
12:30 January 8, 2010 by krrodman
Did he have to pay extra for the 10-penny nail?

The McDonald's "hot coffee" suit was a joke. She actually had the cup of coffee wedged between her legs while she was driving her car. The spill burned her loins - ouchy... What a dumbass!

The problem here is that some nut thought it might be fun to see what happens if you bury a large nail in a hamburger. Thank god there is a simple solution:

Send every hamburger through an airport-type security screener before being served.
12:35 January 8, 2010 by eddie123
why isn't he suing?
13:08 January 8, 2010 by me_i_sverige
@eddie123: Didn't you read above, they (McDonalds) already apologized!!! How can he sue now :-D. In Sweden, one can easily walk away with these incidents.
15:15 January 8, 2010 by krrodman
And, of course, don't discount the possibility that this was self-inflicted. Several years ago at Wendys a person found a human finger in her chili. Her emotional distress was national news for weeks. Sales at Wendys crashed. Her lawyers were salivating over a big payoff.

Turns out she put the finger in the chili herself. The finger came from a family friend who had lost it in an accident but had kept it in a jar in his house as a keep sake. He gave his finger to our "victim" to pay off a gambling debt to the family.

Her lawyers, who spent weeks spewing venom at Wendys, were never heard from again........
17:08 January 8, 2010 by zircon
I went to McDonald's for a water yesterday evening. Didn't find any nails in the crushed ice.
20:12 January 8, 2010 by Qassim
Is this just like the Killer Coke or a reality?

After reading the above story, I surmise that the incident truly happened, according to the Manager's acceptance and the apology followed; however, no one knew how the nail ended up in the burger - And this reminds me of the "Killer Coke Conspiracy", or "A thumb in the Beverage Can".

By the way, Good Luck to Yusuf for future burger bites at McDonald's and beyond. To the rest of us, let's just keep up the good work by realizing that humans do mistakes and may be the waiter or the cook did that mistake. Unless we realize our humanness and our nature of being forgetful sometimes, we will surely never be good human beings.
22:24 January 8, 2010 by Soft Boiled
Wonder what happened next? It´s a real nail-biter!! :)
23:41 January 8, 2010 by diegoveggie
why go to mcdonalds in the first place?
07:10 January 9, 2010 by askin
Eat kebab, at the same price!
10:29 January 9, 2010 by sql
Although I am, I would have given the court the right to play with such irresponsibility will not destroy human life means that now has become dangerous to eat something from mcdonalds before glass was broken out.
15:11 January 10, 2010 by americanska
Ah Sweden. the land of zero liability - so i don't suppose the worker will be fired either. Or will they even try to see who caused this? If they are fired - will they get redundancy payments?
01:09 January 11, 2010 by J Jack
They are franchise food outlets (should not be allowed to call it a restaurant) and the franchise operators should at least give him his money back. Was it a 10 kr cheeseburger? Well at least he benefits from fastfoodophobia and wont take his kids there anymore. ; - }
05:32 January 11, 2010 by wenddiver
Part of the price of being successful, lowlifes are always trying to sue you.
08:34 January 11, 2010 by brooklynmom2
nails are not the worst things you can find in a McDonald's burger. it's not food - it's disgusting. and the way they treat animals is a total crime. don't go there. eat something wholesome and natural instead.
09:26 January 11, 2010 by americanska
Brooklymom - the way MacDonalds treats animals? They have farms do they?
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