Kaylee Foote, 22, of Stratford didn't feel like cooking after a busy day last Wednesday so she pulled into the drive-thru at McDonald's in Stratford.
She ordered a Happy Meal for each of her two daughters: one meal was with a hamburger, the other with chicken McNuggets.
Foote told her children to wait until the family got home before digging into the meals.
When the family sat down to eat, Foote's five-year-old daughter quickly found her meal to be quite an unhappy experience.
"She just bit (into a McNugget) and spit it back out and said 'this is gross,''' said Foote, who recently graduated from the bioscience technology program at Holland College.
"I was mortified because working in the science field I know how bad salmonella can be (salmonella infection is usually caused by eating raw or undercooked meat).''
Foote says roughly half of the chicken nuggets was raw while the other half was cooked.
She immediately called the restaurant about the incident.
The person who took her call merely thanked her for the heads up.
There was no apology, no offer of compensation.
"It was pretty irritating, especially when it is raw chicken,'' she says.
Foote's brother took the raw chicken into the restaurant and spoke with the manager.
The manager reimbursed the family for the cost of the meals.
Fortunately, Foote's daughter did not become ill after chomping into the raw chicken.
Still, Foote would like to know how the raw chicken ended up being served. She would also like to know what the restaurant did after learning of the incident.
In a statement emailed to The Guardian Monday, David McKenna. franchisee for McDonald's restaurants in P.E.I., said food safety is a top priority.
"As a local franchisee, I take matters of this nature very seriously and have very strict policies and procedures in place to ensure my guests receive the highest quality products whenever they visit my restaurants,'' says McKenna.
"I was disappointed to hear of this experience, and as soon as my restaurant team was made aware of the incident, we launched a full investigation. These incidents, while unfortunate, are isolated. In addition to the investigation, I have taken immediate action by reviewing the proper procedures with my team to ensure it will not happen again.''
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