For many of us, picturing the inside of a fast-food kitchen is something we either try not to think about or we just assume is A-OK. After all, who doesn’t begin vetting a place immediately upon walking in? Certificates on the wall? Check. Clean? Check. No weird smells? And — if you’re a snooty New Yorker — an “A” rating in the window? Check aaaannnnd check!
Well, according to images posted by one ex-McDonald’s employee, perhaps none of that matters, at least when talking about the ice cream machine.
In a post shared on July 14 that only recently went viral, said employee tweeted out a series of images. In the first set of photos, he held up a long tray allegedly taken from the ice cream machine. “This came out of McDonald's ice cream machine in case y'all were wondering…” The piece shows the “drip tray” filled with a milky-green goo. Let’s just say it’s not something you’d want near your soft serve.
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This came out of McDonald's ice cream machine in case y'all were wondering... pic.twitter.com/DTXXpzE7Ce
— nick (@phuckyounick) July 14, 2017
The employee, Nick — no last name — was let go soon after he posted the disgusting photos. As Food Beast notes, Nick had a job lined up prior to posting the unsettling images. It was basically his way of spreading the fast-food gospel...and going out with guns blazing.
Nice and dirty... pic.twitter.com/vjxuVLJpgF
— nick (@phuckyounick) July 18, 2017
“Sometimes my coworkers would drop the food and put it back on the bun,” Nick said to the Huffington Post. “I’ve seen it happen several times.” The former employee also explained that it was his manager’s duty to keep the trays clean and that since being hired in March, he’d rarely seen the manager do so. He also confirmed, despite its murky state, that the tray is not from a grease trap.
This is the side of the ice cream machine! It's not from a grease trap pic.twitter.com/nMpnFxAvZ4
— nick (@phuckyounick) July 17, 2017
In a statement to HuffPo, a McDonald's spokesperson said, “We are committed to running great restaurants that provide our customers with high-quality food, service, and a clean environment,” the statement reads. “This is a part of our soft serve equipment that does not come into contact with any food and is required to undergo regular and timely cleaning.”
While the vomit-triggering photos aren’t reflective of every Mickey D’s, it’s disturbing nonetheless. And considering that ongoing joke that McDonald’s ice cream machines are always broken, you have to wonder: Maybe the employees were just trying to save us?
Me: can i get a mcflurry
— Tarzan (@richhomie_qu4d) July 16, 2017
Mcdonalds worker: *looks at this*
.... the machine broke https://t.co/lnXUIiyoqg
Ugh, never mind...
People keep quoting this and saying this is the reason it's always down when it works perfectly fine with this in it
— nick (@phuckyounick) July 16, 2017
Thanks for killing our dreams, dude.