Hamburger Buns Found In The Bathroom At A Checkers Restaurant

A Checkers customer in Cleveland, Tennessee, discovered hundreds of buns being stored in the restaurant's bathroom. This particular customer, Stephen Staley, just happened to be a manager at a nearby McDonald's who is currently enrolled in a food safety training program.

"My first thought was 'Are they going to serve them?' and speechless other than that," Staley told WRCB. He proceeded to take a video "to keep others safe" and confronted the restaurant's manager on the situation.

"They said they were trying to get them out of there and inside of the restaurant," said Staley. He remained at the restaurant until employees moved the buns back into the restaurant and then called the Health Department's emergency tip line.

"We had an environmentalist go out to the restaurant Sunday morning to speak with the manager and find out what the situation was," said Eric Coffee, field office manager for Division of Environmental Health. "With all of the bacteria and things that are present in the restroom, it's possible to contaminate the food so that's never acceptable."

An inspection was performed and the buns were in the dumpster. "There were no imminent health hazards present while we were there in order to require them to be closed," said Coffee.

Kim Francis, a Checkers spokesperson says, "The health and safety of our guests is our top priority and a bread delivery mistakenly left in the bathroom is completely unacceptable. The buns were misplaced during a delivery at the franchise-operated Checkers location in Cleveland, Tennessee, on Saturday, April 23, 2016, and when discovered, they were immediately disposed of by the restaurant team. The buns were never served, and the employees involved in the delivery have been disciplined. The Health Department conducted an inspection at the restaurant this morning and confirmed the disposal of the buns. We apologize to our guests, and we are taking actions with this franchisee to ensure our operating procedures are followed."

Check out our story on another hamburger bun incident at Checkers that went viral.