A viral video posted this week shows a McDonald's employee in Southbridge, Massachusetts, putting french fries in her mouth before placing them into a customer's box. A second employee is visible in the background, laughing. Southbridge police confirmed they are investigating the incident in coordination with the local Board of Health.

The franchise owners — the Spadea and Balducci family — issued a statement calling the actions "unacceptable" and said the Board of Health found "no public health concerns or violations." But the investigation into whether the contaminated food was actually served to a customer is still ongoing.

Finding no violations after the fact is not accountability. A customer may have eaten that food. They deserve to know.

Food contamination is not a minor lapse in judgment — it is a public health issue and potentially a criminal one. The fact that this was filmed, posted publicly, and that a second employee was laughing suggests this was not a moment of carelessness but a deliberate act. McDonald's, one of the largest fast food corporations in the world, has a responsibility to ensure that its franchisees enforce food safety standards rigorously — not just issue statements after a video goes viral.

Sign this petition to demand that McDonald's corporate take direct action, that the franchise be subject to an independent health inspection, and that full transparency be provided to the community about whether contaminated food reached any customer.