Metal in mouth turns out to be not so finger lickin’ good

Parents of 10-year-old boy shocked at finding metal fragments lodged in a piece of KFC chicken which their son swallowed.

PETALING JAYA: A fast food meal turned out to be far from finger lickin’ good for a 10-year-old boy when he ended up with metal fragments in his mouth which he unknowingly swallowed as he chomped on a piece of crispy fried chicken at the KFC outlet in Section 18 Shah Alam.

His mother, S Ranjita, who was with the boy when the incident occurred, was shocked at finding curly strips of metal cooked along with the crispy coating of the meat.

She also panicked when she realised her son had not only chewed but swallowed whole pieces of chicken with the metal fragments in it.

“He was immediately told to spit it out. He had swallowed some parts of the chicken unknowingly,” said the boy’s father, A Velan.

He said that upon further inspection, more metal pieces were discovered lodged in the chicken. “We do not know where these metal pieces came from or the dangers of these particles. Some parts of the metal were sharp. We have no idea of the long-term effects (if one consumed some of it).”

Velan said his wife quickly called the contact number listed on their order receipt but all calls went unanswered despite Ranjita’s four attempts.

The parents then rushed their son to a clinic for a medical check up. Velan explained the doctor prescribed medication to ease his son’s bowels so the metal pieces could be expelled from the boy’s system as soon as possible.

Disappointed over the incident, the boy’s parents lodged a police report and even passed a copy of the report to the management of KFC for their action. However despite their efforts the response from KFC was lukewarm.

“Not once did they offer medical assistance. Only when I raised possible health hazards, did KFC offer my son a medical check up,” Velan alleged.

The incident took place on Jan 3 and Velan has now expressed his frustration that despite one week having passed, no one was the wiser as to where those metal fragments came from or how it ended up in the piece of deep fried chicken his son ate.

“KFC has not been proactive in handling our case. Till today we still do know how those metal pieces got into the chicken.”

Velan said he hoped such an incident would not occur again as it could put someone’s life in danger.

In an official statement issued, KFC confirmed the incident had occurred but admitted they were still uncertain as to how the metal fragments ended up in the chicken pieces.

“Yes, we are aware of this issue as it was brought to our attention by Mr Velan on January 3, 2017. We take this matter seriously as it concerns our product.

“We do not allow steel or metal scouring pads in any of our stores. Our Quality Assurance (QA) team is doing another round of checks to ensure that none of the restricted materials are in fact in any of our stores.”

“In the meantime, we have also offered to provide a medical examination or medical treatment for Mr Velan’s son should it be required. Rest assured we take these matters seriously as the quality and standards of our products are our priority.” -FMT