McDonald’s Is Sorry It Served a Woman Bubble Tea Mixed With Disinfectant

Customer settles with McDonald’s in China over drink mixed with disinfectant

McDonald’s issued a rare apology this week to a customer at a restaurant in China for serving her a bubble tea laced with disinfectant, the South China Morning Post reports. The woman, referred to as Huang, ordered the drink at a McDonald’s location inside the Changle Airport in Fuzhou on Friday and was sent to the hospital with vomiting, a sore throat, and stomach pain.

Her husband, Tang, later told the Strait Metropolis Daily that she took one sip, noticed a bad taste, and took off the lid to discover a strong chemical smell. “I asked staff workers about the drink, but they just took it and smelled it, without giving any explanation. They threw the drink into the rubbish when we were not looking, but we took it back,” he said.

A doctor at the hospital said her symptoms were caused by sodium dichloroisocyanurate — a common disinfectant that’s also corrosive. It can cause burns to the mouth, throat, and stomach when it’s ingested, according to the National Library of Medicine. The fast-food chain confirmed that it has reached a settlement with the woman.

And in other news...

• In addition to serving a toxic airport beverage, McDonald’s is ditching its fancy burger options and going back to the basics, focusing more on its fresh beef Quarter Pounders. It’s all part of the company’s grand plan to simplify menus, speed up drive-thru wait times, and put more emphasis on breakfast. [CNN]
• San Antonio’s City Council rejected a proposal to revisit a decision that blocked Chick-fil-A from opening in the city’s airport. Council representatives drew the ire of state officials including the attorney general for taking a stand against the fast-food chain’s “legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.” [MySA.com]
• Here’s how Parrothead leader Jimmy Buffett challenged Corona with Landshark Lager. [Vine Pair]
• Chipotle representatives confirmed this week that some customers were the target of a cyber attacks in April. Hackers reportedly used consumer credit card information to make fraudulent charges. [Fast Casual]
• Pepsi is scrapping its Batman-esque plans to plaster the night sky with advertising. The soft drink giant says it has “no further plans to test or commercially use” the orbital advertising technology at this time. [Boing Boing/Space News]
• The nation of Iceland finally has control of its name again after five years of fighting UK grocery chain Iceland Foods’ EU trademark for the word “Iceland.” [Boing Boing]
• Mossimo Bottura is taking his next food waste soup kitchen refettorio to Sydney, Australia. [Il Globo]
• Actress Shay Mitchell’s smile required a rescue trip to the dentist after her tooth tussled with a bagel sandwich and lost the fight. [Elle/Jezebel]
• Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group named a former exec at Darden, the company behind Olive Garden, president of the company. [NRN]
• Sheroes’ Hangout, a cafe in Agra, India, is run entirely by women survivors of acid attacks. The restaurant was founded in 2014 by an activist group that fights for harsher sentences for attackers and controls on the sale of acid. [LA Times]
• José Andrés returned to the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon to demonstrate how to make a tortilla española. He also used the opportunity to once again remind viewers about Puerto Rico’s hurricane recovery. [Youtube]

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]