Search continues in Wendy's finger case

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^ | 3/24/05 | BRIAN SKOLOFF

[XR7]

SEARCH CONTINUES - A woman bit into a partial finger served in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant, leading authorities to a fingerprint database Thursday to determine who lost the digit. The incident occurred Tuesday night at a San Jose Wendy's restaurant and left the customer ill and distraught, said Joy Alexiou, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County Health Department.

"She was so emotionally upset once she found out what it was," Alexiou said. "She was vomiting."

Employees at the Wendy's store were asked to show investigators their fingers after the Tuesday night incident. All employees' digits were accounted for, officials said, adding that the well-cooked finger may have come from a food processing plant that supplies the company.

"All of our employees have ten digits," said Denny Lynch, a spokesman for Wendy's International Inc., based in Dublin, Ohio. He said there have been no reports to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of injuries at any supplier of chili ingredients to Wendy's.

"By law, you can't hide that sort of stuff," Lynch said. "All of our chili suppliers report no accidents."

Investigators seized the remaining chili and closed the restaurant for a few hours late Tuesday.

Health officials said the fingertip was approximately 1 1/2 inches long.
They believe it belongs to a woman because of the long, manicured nail.

Alexiou said the woman, who asked officials not to identify her, is at minimal risk of contracting illnesses from the finger.

"It's an extremely low chance because the chili was cooked at a very high temperature that would have killed anything in the finger," Alexiou said. Still, she said health officials would ask the woman's doctor to test her blood "to make sure nothing got passed to her."

[Knute]

Does anybody remember this toy from the 1960's? SIX-FINGER!

I remember the ad slogan- "Six finger, six finger, man alive! How did I ever get along with five?"

Don't think I ever HAD one... Born in 1952, it IS possible!

[festus]

I hope they had everyone in the kitchen hold up their hands and count.

[festus]

where is the rest of what used to be attached to the finger?

In the burger ?

[BJungNan]

She will probably sue. Bet she does not settle for another bowl of chili.

[MitchellC]

Anyone missing a finger?

[wideminded]

I'm thinking this could be fraud and perhaps the "victim" brought the finger to Wendy's herself. The question is how she acquired it.

[pollyg107]

They should check the morgue. I worked on a case like this once. The foreign object in the food (also a finger) came from a corpse at the morgue. The person who "ate" the finger had put it in the food.

[BJungNan]

Investigators are trying to put their finger on where it came from and hope to nail whoever is responsible. Manicurists have been alerted and asked to report anyone asking for a discounted rate.

[Born Conservative]

The search continues? I thought someone found the finger in a bowl of chili?

[gonzo]

........FRegards

[Route101]

As long as they don't find her head in the french fries........

[Fast1]

They need to check the Illegals they have working.

[spinestein]

If I had to guess where it came from, I would say it was a worker in the facility where the chili is precooked.

I would surmise that the person was under the influence of drugs or alcohol while working and lost the tip of a finger in one of the processing machines, but because most factories have a policy of mandatory drug and alcohol testing whenever an individual reports an injury or accident the worker got scared and hid the injury.


There are several reasons many work places have this policy of mandatory drug and alcohol testing whenever someone is injured.

1) It protects the company from liability by allowing the cause of the accident to be explained by a worker who is revealed to have been intoxicated at the time.

2) I discourages workers from using intoxicants before or during work if they know they may be caught.

3) It discourages workers who may be intoxicated from REPORTING personal injuries or accidents. (This one is never "official" policy but it may in fact be at least as important to the company as a cost saver than the first two reasons.)

[BJungNan]

They found the culprit...

[Searching4Justice]

anybody seen Lorena Bobbitt lately ? maybe it's not a finger >>>>>>

[MinuteGal]

The Moving Finger writes; and having writ
Plops in the Chili
Nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall trace it back to any Mitt
Nor all your Tears wash out the Sight of it
Please pass the Piccalilly.

Omar Leni

[Unruly Human]

Chicken McHeads. They used to be good! LOL

You deserve a beak today!

[nuke rocketeer]

Its simple, just examine the hands of all women named Wendy in that area. Maybe someone will finger her for a reward, especially if you make the reward a basket of chicken fingers.

[Martins kid]

Inigo Montoya !!!!

[spodefly]

That picture always cracks me up. Those Marines look like they seriously wanted to stuff the gigolos head in a vat of finger-filled chili.