Disgusting Discoveries: A History of Foreign Objects In Food

Rodents, fingers, needles, condoms—you won't believe some of the things people have found while dining out.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead


In today's fast-paced society, people no longer have the luxury of partaking in old-fashioned pastimes like "family dinners" and "talking to other people in real life." With so much emphasis placed on the bottom line, there is simply no time for pesky activities like "quality assurance" or making sure there aren't things like "dead animals" in your Jimmy Dean breakfast burrito.

So, when we heard about the most recent incident of food contamination, a dead mouse in a can of Pepsi, we chalked it up to another folly of capitalism. Join us as we fondly reflect upon all the disgusting things people have found in their food...

chicken_head

McDonalds, 11/30/2000
DISCOVERY: Katherine Ortega bit off more than she could chew after she found a fried chicken head mixed in with her McNuggets. Talk about a value meal! In today's rough and tumble economy, you're lucky to get anything for free. Quit yer' bellyachin' - at least it wasn't a used condom!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
condomfries

McDonalds, 5/5/2009
DISCOVERY: A 7-year-old Swiss girl discovered a used rubber hiding in a sleeve of the world's favorite french fries. It's hard to say how a condom could have possibly turned up in a box of fries. We know happy meals can be exciting, but not like that.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
steaktampon

Waldorf-Astoria, 7/14/2009
DISCOVERY: Axel Sanz-Claus, a tourist from Germany, expected more from the high-class steakhouse in the Waldorf-Astoria than getting served a blood-soaked tampon with his meat. After the incident, Claus told reporters, "I had [the used tampon] in my mouth, chewed it, and nearly swallowed it." Pause, Mr. Claus. Oh, and welcome to America.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
arbys

Arby's, 4/25/2005
DISCOVERY: An Arby's employee sliced off a chunk of skin while cutting lettuce and never looked for the other part of his finger that turned up in someone's crispy chicken sandwich. Forget all that talk of skinless chicken, "crispy" is where it's at!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
knifesub

Subway, 7/16/2008
DISCOVERY: New Yorker John Agnesini is suing Subway restaurant after finding a large serrated knife baked in to his foot-long. It used to be that you could get stabbed on the subway. Now the problem is you can get stabbed eating one.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
popeye

Popeye's, 7/16/2008
DISCOVERY: Tony Hill of Baltimore called the police after finding a fried dead mouse mixed in with his six-piece. In some parts of the world, fried insects are a delicacy. In Baltimore fried rodent makes for a fine hor d'oeuvres.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ham

Schneiders, 11/6/2006
DISCOVERY: A Canadian meat packing company came under fire after several batches of ham were found to be impregnated with syringes. There's nothing quite like giving your entire family Hep C at Christmas dinner.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wendys22

Wendy's, 5/15/2005
DISCOVERY: After sitting down to enjoy a hot cup of Wendy's chili, Anna Ayala cried foul when she found the tip of a severed finger floating alongside her pinto beans. In the days following the chili finger incident, investigators would learn Ayala had planted the finger in her chili with hopes of being able to sue for load of cash. Talk about a finger fuck gone wrong.

Latest in Pop Culture