Pregnant Mom's Chemical Latte Has McDonald's Apologizing

A Canadian woman eight months pregnant with her third child says McDonald's served her a cup of cleaning solution rather than the latte she ordered. Sarah Douglas picked up the beverage at a drive-thru in Lethbridge, Alberta, around 6:45am Sunday. As she drove her son to a baseball tournament, she took a sip of the brownish liquid and immediately had to spit it out. It "tasted like chemical," she tells Global News. Douglas says she returned to the restaurant and learned two cleaning lines were hooked up to the latte machine. "The machine was being cleaned—as it is every morning," franchisee Dan Brown says, per the Toronto Star. "Unfortunately, the milk supply line was connected to the cleaning solution while this guest's drink was made."

Brown apologized for the incident and said employees had reviewed "proper cleaning procedures" and "put additional signage up as an added reminder." That's not enough for Douglas, who feels fine but had to contact poison control and visit her doctor; the cleaning agent contained citric acid, phosphoric acid, methy-trimethyl-3, and 2-butoxyethanol, per Lethbridge News Now. Claiming an employee told her "this had happened before," Douglas says she's concerned about the possible effects on children and wants "to make sure I have voice and that I'm being heard in terms of the safety of consumers." She adds, per Global News, "there needs to be more than just a slap on the wrist." According to Brown, a health inspector has visited the restaurant but "is not investigating further." (More McDonald's stories.)