One Big Mac with a side of wet mop.
An Australian McDonald’s employee was caught drying a seemingly wet mop underneath the fry station’s heat lamp, earning the disgust of customers in the store and online.
Debbie Barakat took her son to the fast-food joint’s Booval location, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia, on April 4 when she saw the employee casually holding the mop inches from the hot lights and fries.
“I was just standing waiting for my order when I looked over and heard a staff member say; ‘I don’t think you should be doing that as it could be a safety issue as it can catch on fire,’” the woman told Yahoo! News Australia.
Barakat claimed other employees worked around the mop-dryer for about a minute, grabbing fries to complete the orders.
“I was totally shocked at what I witnessed and she just laughed it off,” she said.
The employee had just finished mopping the floor with the detachable microfiber mop head before she began drying in front of the customers.
The angered customer emailed the store’s manager over the stomach-churning act, but only received a vague response.
“Be assured that we’re taking corrective action so a similar action will not reoccur,” the manager replied.
A McDonald’s Australia spokesperson said it was an isolated incident, the outlet reported.
“McDonald’s takes food safety extremely seriously and follows strict cleaning, sanitization and hygiene procedures in all restaurants,” the company said.
The employee caught in the less-than-appetizing deed will seemingly keep her job, as the chain works to better train its workers.
“We have addressed this with the restaurant directly and conducted thorough re-training for all employees on McDonald’s sanitization, hygiene and food safety procedures,” the company added.
Many social media users were equally, and rightfully disgusted by what they watched, while some poked fun at the scene.
“May as well just sweep the fries around on the floor for flavor,” one person wrote, with a vomiting emoji.
“When I worked at (McDonald’s), I was astounded by the number of violations made for safety and hygiene,” he added.
“So that’s where the flavor comes from,” one person joked.
“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed mop,” a third wrote.
“The old McMop is back! Must be limited time only get in while [they’re] hot.”