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New York woman says she found dead rat in salad after eating ‘two-thirds’ of meal; restaurant denies claim
27-year-old Hannah Rasbach chose a go-to bowl of spring mix, beef bulgogi, grilled salmon and toppings from New York City's Ongi on May 5 for her lunch.
Are you having your meal? You might want to put aside that plate before you read further. In a shocking incident, a woman claimed that she found a dead rat in her salad, which she bought from a New York restaurant, as per People. However, the restaurant denied the allegations, saying that after checking the security footage and questioning its employees, they "concluded that the contaminant was not put into the customer’s lunch."
Woman finds dead rat in salad bought from New York restaurant
27-year-old Hannah Rasbach chose a go-to bowl of spring mix, beef bulgogi, grilled salmon and toppings from New York City's Ongi on May 5 for her lunch. “I ate probably, like, half to maybe two-thirds of the salad, I would guess, and I just kind of saw part of it covered – I thought it was a piece of beef bulgogi that was not fully chopped up, and it was kind of buried under the lettuce. So I started trying to cut it with a knife, and something didn't feel right, so I moved the lettuce over and could tell what it was pretty quickly. I was in shock,” she told People.
New York restaurant denied allegations
As per an Ongi spokesperson, Hannah was issued an immediate refund for her meal. The restaurant was also inspected by the New York City Health Department on May 7 and rated an ‘A’ on the same day. The restaurant, citing their security footage, claimed that Hannah left Ongi on May 5 without a rat in her salad.
“We reviewed the security footage of the meal as it was being prepared, and we questioned the employees who prepared it. Upon review of that video and other evidence, we concluded that the contaminant was not put into the customer’s lunch at our restaurant....We have never before been subject to allegations of contamination,” the spokesperson said.
Hannah threw up, visited the doctor, vows to bring her own lunch
After the incident, Hannah went to her boss's office before throwing up in the bathroom. After that, she went back to the restaurant before going to the doctor's office. Hannah claimed the restaurant manager "was pretty nonchalant, she didn't really act super shocked or anything, which was very confusing".
After visiting the doctor, she was told that the biggest concern would have been if the rat defecated or urinated in her salad. Ongi’s owner, Ray Park, also called her and was "very apologetic", asking how "we can make it up to you", Hannah added. Ray's spokesperson, however, said that "the contaminant in the bowl is not something that was in the bowl when it was sealed and handed to Ms Rasbach at the restaurant".
Hannah reiterated that she is telling the truth, and the rat came from Ongi. She said "there's no benefit to me putting a rodent in my bowl". A shocked Hannah said that she’s been “grossed out” and would bring her own lunch from now on.
