KAMPALA, UGANDA: Social media was hit by a wave of comments and posts from Uganda after a viral video appeared online showing how, on Thursday August 30, a client found a dead rat inside a milkshake she bought from Cafe Javas, the country’s number one fast food restaurant.
The girl who posted her angry claim on social media together with a video, says she found the rat was at the bottom of the tin after finishing her “expensive milkshake” and that she was left horrified by the incident accusing the restaurant of negligence.
“This a rat I found in my milkshake from Café Javas, yeah the people we feel so proud of…and they tell me to have this worked upon, I need to get a lawyer,” the lady is heard narrating in the video below.
She further revealed that her next move was to find a city lawyer in order to attract Café Javas’ attention and seek compensation for the atrocious incident.
Cafe Javas, a classy fully-fledged restaurant specializing in delivering memorable dining experiences has over seven branches spread across Kampala, the capital of Uganda and one in Kenya.
As the rant went mild on social media, the Cafe Javas management has hit back claiming that after a thorough investigation and also careful scrutiny of their CCTV cameras, the client has been found to be malicious and have hit back declaring “this is unacceptable.”
In a press statement seen by this website, management declares the whole story false and malicious.
“A false story circulating in some sections of social media has been brought to our attention. We would like to provide a true account of events based on information from our staff and CCTV footage to our esteemed customers and the public,” management stated.
Café Javas claims that on Tuesday 24th August 2021 at approximately 2-46pm, two customers ordered for Oreo and Caramel milkshakes to be taken away.
“The two orders were prepared following our usual high standard protocols of food safety and hygiene duly overseen by our supervisors before delivery to the customers all in view of our closely monitored CCTV cameras,” statement intones.
Café Javas adds that a day later, management were surprised to learn from the customers that, one of the milkshakes contained vermin and that whereas the management conveyed the impossibility of adulteration since the process of milkshake preparation involves blending, such that no vermin or other solid object could remain in the cup unblended, they nonetheless informed the customers that their allegations had to be verified, prompting a quick investigation including a review of the CCTV footage of the preparations of the two milkshakes.
“The CCTV showing the preparation of the milkshake confirmed that there was no adulteration of the milkshake. The customer was duly informed of the findings to which she reacted by threatening to circulate a video of her version of events if she was not paid a certain sum of money,” the statement explains.
Café Javas now believes the whole social media incident is meant to malice the restaurant chain.
“On viewing the video making rounds on sections of social media and in addition to our independent investigations, it is our considered opinion that these claims are in bad faith, untrue, malicious and intended to bring our business into disrepute. The circulation of the malicious video has further led to a distortion of our logo. Café Javas has painstakingly built goodwill and reputation over the years and where errors genuinely happen, we own up and take full responsibility. However, in this particular incident, there was no error on our part, either in preparation, presentation or serving of the milkshakes. It is therefore unacceptable for one to tarnish our otherwise good image and undermine the hard work and dedication of our staff,” Café Javas emphasized.
Did the Café Javas lady reenact the McDonald’s ‘Live Mouse’ Incident?
This incident brings back the 2019 memories of almost similar debacle that hit the world’s top fast food restaurant McDonald’s where a diner who ‘found live mouse in milkshake’ demanded £77k compensation, an equivalent of Shs 450m.
The mirror.co.uk reported then that Kenneth Moyer Jr, 43, from Ohio in the USA sued the fast food giant after allegedly finding the rodent in his drink.
Reading The Mirror story, one sees similarities with the Café Javas incident.
The Story:
The builder from Ohio, USA said he had drunk the majority of his chocolate shake before he realized a mouse was inside his cup.
Now he is demanding £77,000 in damages from the popular eatery.
However, McDonald’s have hit back at his claims and believe that he may have planted the mouse in the cup himself.
The builder says that he purchased the milkshake from the McDonald’s drive-thru in Akron at around 1.15pm on December 15.
Kenneth Moyer Jr ordered a chocolate milkshake from the fast food restaurant
As Mr Moyer drove them home, he began drinking his shake but noticed that his straw kept getting clogged up.
After dropping his friend home, he drove home and left the cup in his truck.
He returned a short while later to grab his cigarettes and saw the straw begin to move.
Mr Moyer opened the lid, which only had a small amount of the drink left, and claims he saw the live mouse.
He said that later on in the day he fell ill and was vomiting.
At around 11.30pm, he returned to the same branch of McDonald’s and told the manager about what happened.
Mr Moyer claims that the manager accused him of placing the rodent in the cup himself.
He drank most of the milkshake before seeing the rodent. After calling the company’s head office the following day he was offered a gift card or the chance to make an insurance claim.
Mr Moyer told the Akron Beacon Journal: “The bottom line is it’s nasty and it’s wrong.
“However it got in there, it was wrong.”
He froze the cup and the mouse which he then gave to his lawyer to send off for testing.
“We have served the Akron area for over 55 years, have made safety and cleanliness top priorities and remain proud of our track record. We eagerly await our opportunity to share the facts in court,” McDonalds said in a statement
Did the Café Javas customer pick this script? The jury remains out there!