One Month After Bugs Found in French Fries... Parasites Found in McDonald's Burger

Appears to Be Larvae of Whale Worm Causing Abdominal Pain and Nausea
Compensation Raised from 200,000 to 500,000 Won After Consumer Refusal

The object inside the red circle in the photo is a foreign substance found in a McDonald's burger. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Korean McDonald's has launched an investigation after receiving a consumer complaint about parasites found in a McDonald's burger patty.

According to a JTBC report, on the 2nd, Mr. A visited a McDonald's directly operated store in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, and while sharing a hamburger with his child, he discovered a foreign substance inside the patty. Upon finding a dark red foreign object inside the white patty made from pollock meat, he immediately showed it to the store staff, only to be told to report it to the headquarters.

After a few days, when Mr. A's child, who had eaten the hamburger together, suffered from abdominal pain, McDonald's offered compensation of 200,000 KRW. However, they required Mr. A to agree not to raise any further issues regarding this matter and to consider the compensation final. When Mr. A refused, McDonald's increased the amount to 500,000 KRW, explaining that the sum included comprehensive medical examination costs at a university hospital and transportation expenses.

Mr. A stored the problematic patty in a freezer, and JTBC requested an analysis from the Department of Environmental Medical Biology at Yonsei University College of Medicine. The result indicated that the foreign substance appeared to be a larva of Anisakis, a whale worm.

Anisakis is a parasitic roundworm that inhabits the stomachs of marine mammals, scientifically known as Anisakis. It is a parasite found not only in pollock but also in fish such as mackerel and cod, causing symptoms like abdominal pain and nausea when ingested by humans. Anisakis dies when heated to 60°C for more than one minute or frozen below -20°C.

In a statement sent to JTBC, Korean McDonald's explained, "Our global supplier detects and removes foreign substances during the fish fillet production process using visual inspection and detectors, but it may not be possible to eliminate 100% of them." Regarding the pressure to reach a settlement with the customer, they stated, "When providing compensation, a consent form is prepared, which, according to regulations, includes a confidentiality clause between the parties." Korean McDonald's also expressed sincere apologies to the customer inconvenienced by this incident and stated that they are currently conducting a thorough investigation with the partner company that supplied the ingredients.

Meanwhile, consumers have been increasingly anxious due to repeated discoveries of foreign substances in McDonald's hamburgers recently. In July, metal foreign objects were found in a McDonald's hamburger in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, and on the 18th of last month, a worm was found in packaged French fries at a McDonald's store in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. McDonald's conducted special inspections at the affected stores and pledged to prevent such issues from recurring, but similar incidents have occurred again in less than a month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.