yikes

Two Moms Have Found Box Cutters In Their Kids’ Happy Meals

Both moms suggest parents check their kids’ meals before letting them dig in.

by Katie Garrity
Two moms from Michigan posted on social media after finding box cutters in their kid's Happy Meals a...
YouTube / WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7

McDonald’s has some not-so-happy customers this week when two moms found something completely strange at the bottom of their children’s Happy Meal boxes at two separate restaurant locations and they were far from toys.

Michigan mom Dawn Paret posted on Facebook reported that there was a box cutter in her child's Happy Meal from McDonald's and shared photos of a bright yellow — and very sharp — object. She says her 7-year-old daughter found the item inside her Happy Meal from a McDonald’s in Warren, Michigan.

In the post — where she tagged the popular fast food chain — Paret talked about the incident, noting that while it could have been so much worse, there is no excuse for the oversight.

“You hear of things like this, but never did I think it truly could happen. The amount of worry and rage that went through me — I have never experienced. A millions ‘what ifs’ — what if it was Ava (2 years old) who found it? What if it wasn't Eliana or Ava and the next kid who was going to eat in the car and play with that?” she wrote.

McDonald's I need an answer as to WHY and HOW a box cutter ended up in the bottom of our daughter's happy meal. Simply saying, a happy meal box is your ‘catch all’ and someone must've accidentally grabbed that one is not the answer I want.”

The mom's post has received dozens of comments from other parents who urged her to call corporate offices and to contact a lawyer.

“Call the company. Record them. See what they say AND call a lawyer. Immediately,” one person wrote.

“I've already been up there. The weekend manager was a kid and he's the one who told me it was probably their catch all box,” Paret wrote in a reply. “I'm going up there tomorrow to talk to the general manager bc he said she'll go through video footage.”

Even if the deconstructed Happy Meal boxes and a box cutter are in the same “catch all box,” how does a Happy Meal box get assembled with a box cutter inside of it?

The mom said she reached out to police and that they are investigating.

To add to the strange nature of the story, Paret isn’t even the first mom to experience a box cutter in a Happy Meal.

Another mom from Michigan, Kayla Almashy, told WXYZ that she also found a box cutter inside her child's Happy Meal three weeks prior at a different location.

“My baby, like she always says, ‘Mama, will you open my toy?’ So, she went to give me the toy, and when I grabbed it, it was a box cutter,'“ Almashy said. “I was blown away.”

Paret also spoke with WXYZ and said she was angry that McDonald’s put her child in danger.

“Anything could have happened, and that's what's scary,” Paret said.

“She opened up the box looking for the toy, and [my husband] was getting the 2-year-old set up. She turned around, looked at him, held it out and said, "Dad, what is this?"'

Almashy told WXYZ that she felt the need to come forward after learning of Paret’s story.

According to Almashy, she picked up food from a McDonald's in Brighton, Michigan — just about 40 minutes away from the restaurant Paret ordered from.

After discovering the box cutter, she said she immediately called the restaurant to get an explanation but received almost no real answers.

“I just wanted some type of explanation. But there was nothing that he could give me, other than he said, ‘Do you want a free apple pie or cookie?’” Almashy said.

Both moms are now urging other parents to check their kids' Happy Meals before letting their little ones dig in.

“That's why I brought it to Facebook — not to bash McDonald's — but it was to bring other parents to be more aware to check their kids' meals because I didn't,” Almashy said.

In a statement issued to USA Today, McDonald's said they are investigating the incidents.

“The safety of customers and employees is our top priority, and we take these claims seriously,” the statement read.

“We have been in touch with the customers involved and are continuing to investigate,” the fast-food company said.