A Wisconsin man who regularly visits his local McDonald's for a sweet tea was left contemplating his life after alleging he sucked a sewage worm into his mouth through a straw. Joe Hauenstein, a frequent customer at the Paddock Lake McDonald's, recounted his horrifying experience on April 26, stating, 'The worm came through the straw and went into my mouth. I spit it out and just sat there contemplating life because I've never had something like that happen to me before. It was absolutely disgusting.'
Multiple Complaints Emerge
Hauenstein is not alone in this disturbing ordeal. On the same day, Jzamyne Gurske took to Facebook after visiting the same fast-food restaurant with her family. She ordered a smoothie and a Sprite, only to discover a large worm floating in the soda. 'James got a large Sprite, and there is a big worm in it! How does this even happen! I'm extremely angry and disgusted, my child drank off of this before we noticed it was in it,' she wrote furiously. Gurske told the outlet that after sharing her story with graphic images of the worm, others reached out claiming similar experiences.
Health Inspection Reveals Source
Kenosha County health officials confirmed multiple complaints about worms at the restaurant. During an inspection on April 27, a manager reported noticing worms emerging from a sewage receptacle beneath the drive-through soda and ice machine over the weekend. Investigators speculated that recent flooding may have caused a failure in the floor drain and tiles, allowing water to back-siphon into components of the soda and ice machine. Hauenstein highlighted the severity: 'Yeah, and it's not just an earthworm - it's a sewage worm, so that makes it even worse. If you have a kid, you wouldn't want to feed that to them. Nobody would want to feed a sewage worm to their kids.'
Similar Incidents Across the US
Beyond Wisconsin, other customers reported similar findings. Baylee Swope from Pennsylvania posted on April 25: 'I am absolutely disgusted with roaring spring McDonald's.' She claimed she drank her entire cup of tea before finding a worm at the bottom, and said she was filing a complaint after receiving no help, noting it was 'not the first time' she had seen this. Another user in Mississippi shared a similar incident, vowing never to return to McDonald's. The Daily Mail has reached out to McDonald's for comment.
