Police in Southbridge are investigating after a video went viral online showing a local McDonald’s employee stuffing french fries in her mouth before putting them back in a serving box.
“We are aware of a video circulating online involving an employee at a local fast food restaurant allegedly contaminating food before it was served,” police said Friday in a Facebook post. “We are also working to determine whether the food was ultimately served to a customer and to identify any individual who may have been affected.”
The video, taken from the kitchen of a McDonald’s, was posted on a private story last week but has since been shared widely across various platforms.
“So you want french fries today, right?” the woman says into the camera after putting the food in her mouth. A second employee can be seen next to her holding the red serving box and laughing.
The Spadea and Balducci families, who run a number of franchises in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including the Southbridge location, said in a statement that “the wellbeing and safety of our Southbridge community remains our top priority.”
“The actions of these individuals are unacceptable and do not reflect our organization’s food safety standards or values,” the group said. “We, as an organization, are conducting an internal review and are proactively working with local authorities, in addition to the local health department, who found no public health concerns or violations.”
Hannah Goeke can be reached at hannah.goeke@globe.com.