A KFC customer has called a branch of the fast food chain "disgusting" after her mum was "almost sick" after eating food from the restaurant.
Katie McAllister from Torquay attended the town's KFC restaurant on Wednesday, February 2 with her mum Carol and 19-month-old daughter.
The family ordered one of the chain's popular popcorn chicken buckets with chips for their lunch but when Carol bit into one of the chips, Katie says she immediately spat it out again.
Despite the branch having a five star hygiene rating, she said the restaurant is "disgusting" and that she won't be returning.
She told Devon Live: "We got a snack box with popcorn chicken and chips. We sat down to eat it and my mum picked up what looked like a chip. She thought it looked a bit too crispy for my daughter so my mum ate it.
"When she put it in her mouth, she said she just knew that it was not right and it was absolutely vile so she spat it out and put it on the coffee lid of the plastic cup and asked me to smell it.
"When I smelled it, I nearly actually threw up, it was absolutely disgusting.
"She felt really sick, she wasn't actually sick but she could have vomited up until she went to bed, just from the thought of it. I've never smelled anything like it."
Katie says she immediately spoke to staff and claims they shared her disgust at the foul odour. The chip was put in a freezer at the restaurant and the assistant manager apparently told Katie that it would be sent off for testing.
"I went up to the counter and said 'I'm sorry but someone needs to smell this' and [the assistant manager] smelled it and went 'oh god, that is horrendous'," Katie explained. "She said 'I think we need to get that tested'. They said 'we'll put it in the freezer and send it away'."
However, Katie says that she has returned to the restaurant twice and has been told that it remains in the freezer. She says she is upset by this and adds that action needs to be taken "urgently" as people continue to eat there. As a consequence, she has taken the sample and says she is going to try to have it tested herself. KFC say they have issued a full refund.
Katie said: "I went back in the following week and spoke to the manager and she had no idea about this and that it was actually in the freezer.
"I was a little bit upset about it and said 'it's a food place and something like that needs to be sent quite urgently, people are still eating in here'. She took my details down and she said as soon as it gets sent off they would let us know.
"I went in again the week after that to see if in anything had happened and the manager that day said 'we haven't sent it off yet' and I said 'it's nearly been two weeks now, it needs to be sent off'.
"I said 'you know what I'll just take it because it needs to be tested and I'll deal with it myself'. He said 'I apologise' but people are still eating [there].
"My daughter is 19 months so that's why I was more upset as well because it's a snack bucket for children. It is absolutely disgusting that place anyway. It is vile, I will never be eating there again."
A KFC Spokesperson said: "We’re sorry to hear this guest was put off their meal, that’s not what we want.
"Our Torquay restaurant recently achieved a 5* food hygiene rating, so we were surprised to see this and offered a full refund.
"We have not had any similar complaints but we always encourage our fans to get in touch when things don’t go to plan."
