The history of spit-in-food goes back approximately 2,700 years, with the first known instance often attributed to a disgruntled fry cook at a lamb burger joint in a suburb of Babylon. That storied tradition continues to this day, with an employee at a South Carolina McDonald’s arrested for allegedly leaving behind his phlegm in two customers’ teas.

Police say a mother and daughter attempted to purchase some sweet teas during their visit to a Greenville County McDonald’s. Alas, they were apparently served plain old non-sweet tea, so they asked for replacements.

The mom and daughter once again found that their drinks were not the sweet tea they had ordered, but chose to just go home and sweeten the beverages themselves.

This is the point of the story where they pulled off the lids of their teas and claim to have found phlegm floating in their cups.

The police tell WYFF-TV that the employee who made the teas can be seen on camera leaning over the drinks — presumably to drop a bit of special sauce.

The 19-year-old was arrested and charged with unlawful and malicious tampering with food. He was held on a $5,000 bond.

The owner of that McDonald’s franchise tells WYFF:

Nothing is more important to me than the safety and well being of my customers. I want to assure my customers that my restaurant has the most stringent food safety and quality standards and I caution anyone from reaching a conclusion without the facts. As this is a pending police matter, it would be inappropriate to discuss further and, as such, any additional questions can be directed to the police department.

GCSO: Upstate McDonald’s employee arrested after phlegm found in tea [WYFF]

Thanks to Steph for the tip!

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