'Utterly disgusted' - Investigation after woman reports gum in KFC gravy

Tanya Last, ordered from the fast food branch in Bury Road.

The Ipswich resident ordered a family feast meal and zinger burger on January 9 and was "shocked" when she found a piece of chewing gum inside a gravy pot.

The chain took action by refunding the meal and says it is launching an investigation into the "odd incident".

Ms Last, who lives in the north of town, said: "This has concerned me with what else goes on while preparing and serving food, and I am utterly disgusted and angry because of my findings.

"I myself work within the food industry and know what procedures and regulations should be followed.

"I sent an email to environmental health airing my concerns and they called me on January 11 to inform me that they will be carrying a full inspection out."

The offending piece of chewing gum in the gravy pot bought from Ipswich Bury Road KFC (Image: Tanya Last)

In response, a KFC spokeswoman said: “This is a really odd incident, so we’re still looking into it to work out exactly what happened here.

"We have very strict hygiene and quality processes in our restaurants and we’ve worked closely with the Environmental Health Officer (EHO), who has already visited to double-check all our procedures.

"Ultimately, this wasn’t a great experience and we never want to leave our guests disappointed – we’ve already refunded the meal, but we’d love this guest to contact our Care Squad to chat further.”

Ms Last said she spoke to the manager who gave her a refund but has raised the matter with environmental health.

Ipswich Borough Council, which runs the service, has confirmed it is investigating the matter.

Ms Last said: "I would just like to say that environmental health has been brilliant. They called me and told me the manager was interviewing the two people they narrowed it down to.

"What they did is disgusting. I will never eat there again."