GETZVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Sanborn mother recently experienced something she never thought would happen, finding blood on her order from Burger King.
The incident occurred at the Burger King location at Millersport Highway in Getzville.
Tiffany Floyd posted a TikTok video of the bloody wrapper which has since gone viral on social media. It has gained the attention of millions, across Western New York and beyond.
I spoke with Floyd on Monday to hear the story directly from her and learn what action is being taken by the fast food chain.
On Friday Floyd, her newborn and her 4-year-old daughter were running errands. She decided to go to Burger King to get a kid's meal for her daughter and a meal for herself.
"I went through the drive-thru, I handed my daughter the meal. About five minutes down the road, I heard 'Mommy, I didn't want ketchup.' I grabbed the bag back from her thinking they just messed up her meal," Floyd said.
To her surprise, it was not ketchup, it was blood.
"All over the hamburger, the fry, the toy," Floyd said.
Floyd pulled over immediately and asked her daughter to spit out whatever she had in her mouth. At that point, her daughter had a couple of french fries.
"I called Burger King, I spoke to the manager Dan," Floyd said. "He did inform me that somebody cut their hand right before they cooked and bagged my food, that he was sorry and that if I wanted to come back with a bag he would refund me my money. I declined. I said 'No thank you.'"
Floyd then contacted the Niagara County Department of Health and filed a complaint. Niagara County forwarded the complaint to the Erie County Department of Health due to the location of the Burger King.
"Later that night, as I calmed down, is when I made the TikTok to alert people," said Floyd. "If you were at that location, at that time, that day to maybe check the bags if you still have the bags or if you really think that this might impact you, maybe call your doctor and get your blood done to check."
Floyd said her daughter is traumatized by the situation and has not eaten much.
"I'm not trying to talk a lot to her about it because she is only four but she does know that there was blood in her food," said Floyd. "So, even if I go to give her food, she thinks there's blood in all her food. She did eat a little bit today but she watched me make her food which she has never done that."
According to Floyd, her daughter is getting a blood test on Tuesday. Her pediatrician will not test her until 30 days have passed because that is when they will truly know whether something has been transmitted. This means the blood test that will be taken on Tuesday will be a bloodline test that doctors can compare with the test 30 days from now. She will need to have a blood test every month for an entire year to ensure nothing was transmitted.
I reached out to the Erie County Department of Health and received this statement Monday:
"Though we did not receive a complaint from the public regarding this incident, based on news reports our sanitarians did log a complaint and a sanitarian inspected the facility today 7/29. No critical or non-critical violations were found at the time of inspection.
Our public health sanitarians follow up on all health and safety complaints received about food facilities in Erie County. Summaries of complaint-based and routine inspections are available online within a few days of an inspection at https://www.healthspace.com/erieny [secure-web.cisco.com].
Our environmental health division handles complaints for food facilities in Erie County. Call 716-961-6800 or use our online form [secure-web.cisco.com].
Our department investigates reports of food-related illness – call (716) 858-7697. Symptoms of food-related illness can include vomiting/nausea, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Anyone with a concern about their personal health should contact their doctor or other qualified medical professional."
I also reached out to Burger King and received the statement below:
"We were deeply upset and concerned to learn of this incident. We have been in contact with the Guest and are working with her to resolve this incident. This incident was the result of a team member in the restaurant who injured his finger, and upon noticing immediately stepped away. We closed the restaurant over the weekend to retrain all the team members and hired an external company to complete a deep cleaning. We expect the restaurant to re-open Monday, July 29, and are fully paying team members for any lost shifts during this temporary shutdown."
The Burger King opened around 5 p.m. Monday.
Anyone who has a problem with their food can reach out to Erie County Environmental Health Division, which handles complaints for food facilities, at (716) 961-6800 or Niagara County at (716) 439–7579.
Additionally, the New York State Department of Health Bureau of Emergency Medical Services has guidelines for potential blood exposures. That document can be found here.
