South Carolina Lawyer Blog
A Conway, South Carolina woman recently cut her mouth on something sharp in a hamburger she was eating at a Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Cracker Barrel.
The prepared hamburger patties which are used at the restaurants with the same or similar product codes were immediately pulled from Cracker Barrel shelves according to Cracker Barrel spokeswoman, Julie Davis. Ms. Davis went on to say that the restaurant should begin serving hamburgers again soon.
All Cracker Barrel restaurants in the country had stopped serving a batch of hamburger patties from a Wichita, Kansas supplier after the lady in Myrtle Beach said that she cut her mouth on something sharp.
Irene Graham, 56, who told police that she had cut her mouth on something imbedded in the Cracker Barrel hamburger, was recovering at home. Ms. Graham’s report prompted investigations by the restaurant, Myrtle Beach police and Cargill’s Meat Businesses, which was the producer of the hamburger patties for Cracker Barrel.
After being rushed to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center Ms. Graham was bleeding from her mouth and complained that it felt like something was stuck in her throat. “I was in shock more than anything.” Ms. Graham said on Monday. The restaurant manager took the half eaten hamburger from Ms. Graham’s table and told police that he found a piece of razor blade in the middle of the hamburger patty. He then turned the hamburger over to investigators who found another piece of razor blade in the patty.
The manager immediately reported the incident to Cracker Barrel’s headquarters and Cracker Barrel put out an alert to more than 500 restaurants around the country not to serve any hamburger meat. Ms. Davis, the Cracker Barrel spokeswoman, said that the chain is still not going to serve meat from the same product code the hamburger Ms. Graham ate came from. “We are being, very, very conservative,” Ms. Davis said.
Mark Kline, the spokesman for Cargill’s, said that his company was also investigating the matter.
Myrtle Beach police said that Ms. Graham’s x-rays show that there was no damage to her esophagus and no foreign matter in her stomach. She appears to have some cuts inside her mouth but she is too shaken up about the matter to say much about it.
Ms. Graham is not sure if she will return to the restaurant but did state “I frequent the restaurant quite often, and I love it”.