A McDonald’s employee in Booval, a suburb of Ipswich, Queensland, was seen on camera drying a mop head under a fries warmer, prompting fury and disbelief. The event, which was captured on film and widely shared online, shows the worker holding a detachable microfiber mop head just inches away from a package of fresh fries. The video, which was originally uploaded on the Facebook page Subtle Bogan Hints, rapidly went viral.

The video led to mixed reactions from the public. While some users made light of the situation with jokes such as, “So that’s where the flavour comes from,” others were appalled by the blatant disregard for hygiene. One commenter expressed their disgust, saying, “That’s the most brainless thing I’ve seen this year. This woman needs her hygiene and food safety procedure certificate ripped up!”

In response to the incident, McDonald’s Australia confirmed that the employee had been spoken to by management but would retain her job. The company emphasized that this was an isolated incident and reassured customers that they take food safety extremely seriously. A spokesperson stated, “We have addressed this with the restaurant directly and conducted thorough re-training for all employees on McDonald’s sanitisation, hygiene, and food safety procedures.”