A resident of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, received a hamburger from McDonald's through a delivery on the night of July 13 and doubted his eyes while seeing patty.
After two or three bites of the "Shanghai burger," he felt that the texture of the chicken patty was strange and found a raw meat that was barely cooked when he cut the inside.
About two years ago, when the controversy over McDonald's "Hamburger Disease" suddenly surfaced, the man went straight to the emergency room of a nearby hospital in a worried mood.
"The test shows no major illness as it is a mild gastrointestinal disease, but after eating the meat, I felt bloated and indigestion," said the man. "It's not undercooked, and I think there's a problem with the patty like raw meat," he said. "I had a hard time getting rid of my stomach even after I went to the hospital."
"We found out that the product was cooked incorrectly by the staff in charge," McDonald's said. "After apologizing to him, we ordered a refund of the product, and we have been guiding him on medical checkups and compensation procedures since then."
Meanwhile, the controversy over the hamburger disease, which erupted in July 2017, was sparked by a parent's complaint that the then 5-year-old B had contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome after eating a McDonald's hamburger with undercooked patty.
The prosecution cleared McDonald's of the charges, saying its investigation found it difficult to admit that its products were the cause of the disease.
However, in January, civic groups filed a complaint with the prosecution against the McDonald's Korea and patty suppliers for violating the Food Sanitation Act and professional negligence.
In April, the controversy over the "hamburger disease" flared up again after parents of B and civic groups filed a lawsuit seeking state compensation for the "hamburger disease."
"Due to the controversy over the raw meat patties, the quality management of McDonald's can be questioned," said a representative for a food distribution industry, adding, "Consumers are worried about the possibility of health problems."
