A BASINGSTOKE couple say they found a sauce bottle lid made of rubber in a burrito they ordered from Taco Bell.

Stuart, who doesn’t want his last name published, said he and his partner saw the foreign object inside a Volcano burrito they ordered from the Wote Street store.

“I’m angry and frustrated,” Stuart told the Gazette.

The incident happened on December 20. But 22 days after their complaint, Stuart said the fast-food chain is yet to address their concerns and has gone completely cold now.

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“When nobody is giving you answers and they don’t deliver on their promises, it isn’t ideal,” Stuart said, as he explained the long ordeal.

“I had never tried Taco Bell before. So, we ordered two Volcano burritos from Taco Bell through Deliveroo on December 20.

“As my partner bit into it her burrito, she got this plastic-rubbery thing. It was a foreign object. We tried to call the store, but they didn’t answer the phone. The phone just kept ringing and ringing.

“Then I put something up on Facebook. Turns out the manager of the store was made aware of it on Facebook. He contacted me through Facebook. He told me what happened – that it was the top of a sauce bottle that had come off. He apologised and said the staff will be retrained.

“He added that he will investigate it. Later he came back to us and said the lid came off during the preparation of the food. He said it shouldn’t have happened. But if they had prepared the burrito the right way, it would have seen it clear.

“In the meantime, my partner contacted Basingstoke Environment Health. They investigated it as well and said they are happy that Taco Bell will train all their staff again.

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But Stuart said Taco Bell has gone “completely cold” with his complaint since then.

“I’m not satisfied with their response to my complaint. They haven’t resolved my complaint.

“Deliveroo has refunded the delivery fee straightaway. Although the Taco Bell manager told me that they will send a few vouchers to my address, there has been no update on it. Earlier this week, I contacted them to speak to somebody, but couldn’t.

“Although they say these things happen, it is not what you expect when you order food from somewhere.”

A spokesperson for Taco Bell said: “We are aware of the incident that recently occurred in our Basingstoke restaurant. The restaurant franchisee has fully cooperated with the EHO and they have confirmed that they are satisfied with the actions that have been taken.

“The brand takes food safety extremely seriously, and the safety and well-being of our customers is our top priority.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Interim Head of Environment and Community Services Rob Draper said: “Our Environmental Health team has investigated a complaint about a piece of plastic found in a meal from Taco Bell in Wote Street. This was caused by a clear plastic seal from a sauce dispenser that had fallen into the meal and was not identified by a member of staff.

“As a result of this incident, the restaurant has taken further steps to prevent this from happening again including retraining all staff on how to correctly assemble and fill sauce dispensers and changing the colour of the plastic seals to ensure they are more easily detected.”

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