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An Ohio McDonald’s was closed by health inspectors after a customer reported getting a crack pipe in a drive-thru breakfast order.
The anonymous customer initially posted on Reddit about the disturbing find in his Tuesday morning order at one of the fast food chain’s locations in Columbus.
He said he brought the bag back to the store, alerting a manager so that something similar wouldn’t “end up in a Happy Meal.”
However, he declined an offered refund and instead reported it to Franklin County Public Health, the post said.
Health inspectors then closed the location Wednesday after finding multiple health code violations during building work there, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Construction workers were moving freely through the restaurant, leaving “construction dust on surfaces of food preparation counters, equipment and flooring,” the inspectors’ report noted, according to the Dispatch.
“Beverage service equipment such as soda dispenser, frappucino machine, frozen beverage dispenser, coffee machine had dust, debris, screws, unassembled computer equipment, wooden trim pieces on the top surfaces,” the report states.
“There was no protective barrier between the construction area and the food service area,” the report claims — with cellphones even left on the grill.
The restaurant was also out of compliance with cleaning and sanitizing food surfaces, protecting food from contamination and having someone trained in food safety present, the inspectors’ report said.
The location was shuttered and given until Jan. 4 to correct the health code violations, the Dispatch said.
Franchise owner Alex Mendoza predicted it would be ready to reopen by the end of this week.
He stressed that the closure was due to “a dust issue” from construction — and “nothing” to do with the crack pipe report that led to the inspection.
Still, he said that his company — operates at least 16 McDonald’s restaurants in the area — had “begun a thorough internal review of this claim,” he said of the alleged drug paraphernalia.
“As a local business owner, the safety of my customers and crew is my first priority, and we take this very seriously,” Mendoza told the Dispatch.
“We have no indication that the [cxrack pipe] came from our restaurant but are continuing to investigate and have contacted local law enforcement to report the matter.”
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