Many people on Twitter are reporting that a pregnant woman in Alberta ordered a latte at a McDonald's but was served a cup containing cleaning fluid.
According to a report on CBC News, this was caused by the coffee machine still being connected to two cleaning solution supply lines, rather than the milk reservoir. The cleaning chemical was a mixture of citric acid, phosphoric acid, methyl-trimethyl-3, and 2-butoxyethanol. There is no doubt that ingestion of this material would be harmful.
It's not clear whether the cup contained hot liquid, though if the machine were set to deliver coffee, but connected to a cleaning chemical supply, it's likely that the cup did feel normal, and since it was a takeaway, it would have been fitted with a lid, so gave no indication that it didn't contain latte.
This potentially very dangerous incident gives a lesson: if you are a pilot, a car driver, or the operator of a food processing machine, the principles are pretty much the same - the pre-start checks must always be conducted before any start and done properly.
I am a professional food microbiologist. I created this blog to help ordinary folk and food manufacturers understand food safety so that we can reduce the incidence of food mediated illness. I would like it to become a resource for teachers in schools. If readers send comments or questions, I'll try to incorporate them into future postings. Write to: FoodMicrobiologist.007@gmail.com I hope you find the site useful and perhaps even thought-provoking.
About Me
- John Brooks
- Ashhurst, Manawatu, New Zealand
- Safe Food is written by John D. Brooks. The articles are my own opinions and observations. If you would like to contact me to comment or make suggestions for articles, please write to: FoodMicrobiologist.007@gmail.com
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2 comments:
As we discussed in person:
The engineering solution to this (given the pressure on workers in this industry) would be to have cleaning solution feed tubes trip a switch on the machine that would essentially identify the connected substance
The machine could be programmed with safeties preventing it making drinks while connected to cleaning solution. Similarly, the machine may not perform a cleaning cycle when not connected to cleaner (to prevent an improper clean cycle leading to other food safety hazards)
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. Thanks for sharing.
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