A WOMAN has been left with anxiety after biting into a “raw” McDonalds cheeseburger.

Tia Howes, who lives in Wallingford, was “shocked” after ordering a quarter pounder cheeseburger meal from the fast-food restaurant in Oxford Road, Benson and finding the meat was “red raw”.

She had ordered a meal for herself and her husband through the Uber Eats app at the end of last month.

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“I’m disabled so I can’t go out in a car and pick it up,” she said. “So I went through the app which I have done before and never had any problems.

“Once it was dropped off everything was fine but when I picked up the box I noticed it was a bit soggy in places and the meat seemed softer than normal.

“I shrugged it off and thought maybe they are in a bit of a rush. As soon as I took a bite I had this awful taste, it tasted like pennies.

“I spat it straight back out and I looked at it and it was red raw and pink. It was horrible and super gross and I was almost put off it completely.

“There was only a millimetre that was cooked the rest was raw beef I’m just hoping it was a freak accident.”

Mrs Howes said she was “in shock” and was immediately concerned with washing her mouth out.

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She then called the Benson branch and spoke to the duty manager.

“He apologised but the only thing they could do was to give me a free meal on them,” she said. “But he said I had to come and pick it up but I’m disabled, I’m in a wheelchair, I’d have to get a bus and they said that it wasn’t their problem.

“I asked if there was a possibility to get the meal sent to me but they said no. It was really inconvenient. It’s not nice when you try to explain your hardest and it has fell on deaf ears.”

Mrs Howes said she now has anxiety when eating food and has warned others about ordering from the branch.

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She added: “Instead of taking a bite like a normal person I now have to open the burger to look inside.

“It was a horrible experience and it has raised my anxiety. I don’t want to be a ‘Karen’ and moan about everything but I wasn’t given any excuse or explanation it was just ‘sorry, it won’t happen again’.”

McDonalds have been asked for a comment.

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford, Wantage and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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