Posted on Tue, May. 08, 2007

Cracker Barrel burger injures S.C. woman
Jonathan Tressler
(Myrtle Beach) Sun News

Cracker Barrel restaurants across the country have stopped using a batch of hamburger patties from a Wichita, Kan., supplier after a Conway woman said she cut her mouth on something sharp in a sandwich Saturday in Myrtle Beach, according to a company spokeswoman.

Irene Grann, 56, was recovering at home Monday after she told police she cut her mouth on something embedded in a Cracker Barrel hamburger.

The report has prompted investigations by Cracker Barrel, Myrtle Beach police and Cargill's Meat Businesses, which produced the hamburger patties for Cracker Barrel.

Grann was rushed to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center Saturday evening from the Cracker Barrel restaurant at North Retail Court, according to a Myrtle Beach Police Department incident report.

She was bleeding from her mouth and complained that she felt like something was stuck in her throat, according to the report.

"I was in shock more than anything," Grann said Monday.

The restaurant manager on Saturday collected the half-eaten hamburger at Grann's table and told police he took a piece of a razor blade from the middle of the patty, according to the report.

The manager turned the sandwich over to investigators when he went to check on Grann at the hospital, police said.

Police later found another piece of razor blade inside the patty, which the incident report said looked like it had been inside the meat while it was being cooked.

The manager immediately told the restaurant chain's headquarters about the incident, and an alert was put out to the more than 500 Cracker Barrel restaurants around the country not to serve any hamburger meat, according to police.

Julie Davis, a spokeswoman for Lebanon, Tenn.-based Cracker Barrel, said Monday that the chain still was not serving meat bearing the same product code as the patties contained in the burger Grann had, as well as meat with similar product codes.

"We are being very, very conservative," Davis said.

Cracker Barrel management is working closely with Myrtle Beach police to determine exactly how the sharp object got into the meat, Davis said.

"I mean, you hear a story like this and you just have to jump right on it immediately and find out where it happened, what happened, how it happened, everything," she said. "Food quality has got to be the top priority."

Mark Klein, a spokesman for Wichita, Kan.-based Cargill's Meat Businesses, said Monday that they are "in the process of investigating this matter."

Police said Grann's X-rays showed there was no damage to her esophagus and no foreign matter in her stomach.

The extent of her injuries appeared to be some cuts on the inside of her mouth, according to police.

Grann said Monday she's too shaken up over the episode to say much about it.

"It's too upsetting for me," she said. "It's just been so nerve-racking."

She said she doesn't know if she'll return to the restaurant.

"I frequent that restaurant quite often, and I love it," she said. "I'm sure this could've happened anywhere. [Restaurant management] was very apologetic.

"I really can't say anything bad about them. They're wonderful people."

The Myrtle Beach police continue to investigate the incident and no charges have been filed.

http://www.charlotte.com/112/story/114282.html