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26th Jul 2022

French woman fumes at McDonald’s over their response to her finding a lizard in her burger

Jack Peat

The fast food chain offered her a “10 per cent discount”

A French woman is suing McDonald’s over their response to her finding a lizard in a Big Tasty burger.

The woman was offered a “10 per cent discount” after she bit into a lizard that had found its way into her meal.

Speaking to Le Parisien, she said: “I felt there was something strange. I opened [the burger] up and discovered a squashed lizard with its guts hanging out.”

Her friend Christelle added: “It was smeared with sauce. The cook must have seen it.”

The incident occurred at a McDonald’s outlet in Saint-Witz, in the Val d’Oise area outside Paris, in February 2021.

It is now part of a court battle over the compensation she received, which she was less than impressed with.

Despite only nibbling the reptile, the plaintiff, known only as Pamela (not her real name), decided to stop breastfeeding as a result over concerns that lizards can carry various harmful bacteria including salmonella.

When she returned that evening to the eatery, she said staff were anything but apologetic and by way of compensation could only muster offering her a “10 per cent discount” on her next meal.

“I got the impression they weren’t surprised,” she claimed. “The cook was there and at no point did he come and see us. The supervisor wasn’t there.”

That night, she said she had trouble sleeping and the following day, feeling sick, went to see a doctor who prescribed her a course of antibiotics as a precaution.

Later on, a manager finally called to offer to put her in contact with the company’s insurer. “That means they recognised there was a problem. What I really wanted was for them to say sorry,” said Pamela.

She contacted a lawyer, Frederick Petitpermon, who kept the offending lizard as an exhibit in his fridge for several weeks in case it needed to be sent to a laboratory for tests.

However, Mr Petitpermon said food safety authorities failed to get in touch.

He has now filed for charges against McDonald’s for “endangering the life of others”.

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