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Customer Spots Shakes Made From Towel Bucket Milk

Posted: 12:33 pm EDT September 20, 2007Updated: 12:46 pm EDT September 20, 2007

An Orlando McDonald's restaurant is under fire for an alleged mistake involving milkshakes. At the restaurant in the Lake Nona area, a customer said she saw McDonald's employees pouring milk into the milkshake machine using a bucket with the words "Soiled Towels Only" on the side of it.

The customer was so troubled by it, she used her cell phone to snap a picture. On Wednesday night, Channel 2’s sister station, WFTV, showed that photograph to customers at the location in question, including Marilyn Espinal. When asked if she would continue to eat at the McDonald's, she briefly laughed.

"I'll have to think about it," she said.

"This is a little disturbing if it's a regular practice," another customer said.

  • SLIDESHOW: Milk Being Poured From Bucket

  • VIDEO: McDonald's Explanations To Customers, Media Didn't Match

    WFTV also asked the McDonald's Corporation about the matter. They emailed the following statement: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have taken swift and immediate action to resolve this matter. Nothing is more important to us than the safety and quality of our food."

    The customer, who initially took the cell phone picture, also forwarded the photo and a complaint to McDonald's corporate officials. She told WFTV she got a different answer by email: "The machine was cleaned that morning. They sanitized the bucket to capture milk and after the repair work was done they put the milk back in the machine. This was an isolated incident."

    The restaurant has generated some hygienic concerns in the past. WFTV learned that in August 2007, state investigators found 12 different sanitary violations at the location.

    State inspectors are now asking to see the cell phone picture as well, in case another inspection is warranted.

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