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Less isn't always more.
This was the case for one McDonald's customer, who found his burger's beef patty more underdone than expected.
Raw patty
On Jun. 20, Bryan Lee ordered a meal via McDelivery from McDonald's' 293 Yishun St 22 outlet, which arrived at around 9:30pm.
Speaking to Mothership, he shared that he eats McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder "every other week".
He had expected nothing out of the ordinary upon taking his first bite of the burger.
"McDonald's' food preparation system is supposed to be renowned, hence I took no chance to check its food before consuming."
However, several bites in, Lee found the texture of the burger "awkwardly weird".
He peeled the buns apart to find that parts of the beef patty were pink and raw.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Lee
Photo courtesy of Bryan Lee
Appalled, Lee called the McDonald's customer hotline. He received an apology and was assured that the outlet's Store Manager would call to apologise.
Additionally, a replacement Quarter Pounder would be delivered to his house.
Although he got another burger two hours later at around 11:30pm, Lee shared that he had lost his appetite by then.
He also noted that he did not end up receiving any call from the Store Manager.
Lee added that during the hotline call, he requested for his burger to be brought back "for verification and education purposes so to not have mistakes as such in future", but was later told by the delivery person to throw it away.
The next day, Lee revealed that he had diarrhoea three times, and said that he is "confident" it was due to the meal.
Thankfully, he shared that he feels better since then.
In response to Mothership's queries, McDonald's said:
"We’re sorry to hear about our customer’s experience and have reached out directly to make good on the matter. Food safety is a top priority for us and we’re investigating the incident to ensure that all high food safety standards continue to be upheld."
Unsafe to eat raw or undercooked beef
While steaks with a doneness of medium or medium-rare can be eaten, it is unadvisable to eat raw or undercooked beef, particularly ground beef, which burger patties are made from.
Raw or undercooked ground beef can contain harmful bacteria, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
A professor of food science at North Carolina State University, Lee-Ann Jaykus, also told Time Magazine that packaged ground beef is more likely to contain sickness-causing bacteria or parasites as a single package can contain meat from many different cows.
One contaminated animal could thus "corrupt dozens of batches", and Jaykus advised against eating hamburgers that are red or rare in the center.
Top photo courtesy of Bryan Lee