A former McDonald’s employee has shared shocking photos of a dirty tray he pulled out from a McFlurry machine while on shift.
Nick, from Louisiana, USA, said he pulled the tray - filled with gunk and grease - out of the machine, after accidentally spilling ice cream nearby.
The 18-year-old later shared photos of the contents of the tray on Twitter, explaining: “This came out of McDonald’s ice cream machine in case y’all were wondering.”
In response, a spokesperson for McDonald’s US told HuffPost UK: “This is a part of our soft serve equipment that does not come into contact with any food and is required to undergo regular and timely cleaning.”
Nick, whose tweet was shared more than 14,000 times, continued to “expose” other areas of the restaurant on Twitter, such as the greasy floors, dirty utensils and frozen food.
He later told BuzzFeed he was “shocked” by what he saw.
Some people were a little disturbed by his findings...
However a lot of people didn’t seem too bothered: one person told Nick it was his fault for not cleaning the machine properly in the first place, while another said you can’t tar all McDonald’s franchises with the same brush.
Nick later tweeted to say he’d lost his job. “I got fired from McDonald’s,” he wrote, before adding: “I strategically planned this because I start working at my new job Friday.”
McDonald’s operates a policy which discourages employees from sharing information online that could damage its brand. According to BuzzFeed, the policy states: “Any deviation from these commitments may be subject to disciplinary or other appropriate action, up to and including termination of employment.”
A spokesperson from McDonald’s in the US added: “We are committed to running great restaurants that provide our customers with high quality food, service and a clean environment.”