A COELIAC sufferer was left gobsmacked when a McDonald's worker handed her allergy information that had 'F**K OFF AND DIE' scrawled across it.
Bernie Bowles, 63, had popped into the Weyhill Road restaurant in Andover, Hampshire, as the warm weather had left her craving a Galaxy Caramel McFlurry.
Having coeliac disease, she can eat some Galaxy products but not others, so she approached the counter and asked if the icy treat contained gluten.
The 63-year-old was handed an allergen information guide – but was stunned to find it featured the offensive slur.
An image shows 'f*ck off and die'messily written in what appears to be black biro on the yellow leaflet – which McDonald's confirms was written by a member of staff.
Ms Bowles left the restaurant offended, and empty-handed, none-the-wiser about whether the product contained gluten or not.
She said: "When I came home, I couldn't believe what was written on it. I thought that, quite honestly, it's very inappropriate and it's quite offensive.
"I thought 'maybe that's what they think about people who have got allergies. We don't want you in McDonald's. Go away. You're just an inconvenience'.
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"When I asked if the McFlurry was gluten-free, the staff member wasn't sure so she walked off and then handed me that allergen leaflet.
"I saw there was writing on it. There were figures on the back and some writing on the front, but I hadn't actually read the cover because I'd just opened it.
"I didn't want to buy one and risk having a reaction, so I went to hand the leaflet back. The worker said I can keep it for future reference, she had no clue what was written on it.
"It adds insult to injury because I didn't know if I could eat the McFlurry and then I saw that."
Ms Bowles complained but doesn't think the issue has been taken seriously by complaint handlers who, she said: "Don't believe it was from the store".
She says she contacted the McDonald's complaints team just hours after finding the message and was promised a £15 voucher as compensation.
McDonald's apologised to her for the "completely unacceptable" incident and confirmed that "appropriate action was undertaken" against the employee but refused to state what that involved.
But she insists she's still not been sent the voucher and instead was asked for a copy of the leaflet while they look into the incident.
The keen walker, who visited McDonald's for a cool-down, believes company bosses must educate staff to ensure the same "inappropriate" messages aren't handed out in future.
Ms Bowles said: "Yes, I do have a sense of humour and it may be banter between members of staff but they should be very aware of what they're writing comments on.
"They need to make sure that if they are writing comments that it doesn't get handed out to a customer.
"I'm really annoyed with [McDonald's] now. I don't think they're taking the matter seriously, I'm not a happy bunny.
"They should investigate who wrote this in the first place, and they should deal with things internally to make sure if they need to write on something they have something that's for staff use only."
A spokesperson for McDonald's said: "We take allergens extremely seriously at McDonald's. This incident is completely unacceptable and is in no way in keeping with our company values or what we expect from our employees.
"As soon as we were made aware of what happened, an investigation was conducted as a matter of urgency.
"The employee was identified and the appropriate action was undertaken. We'd like to apologise to the customer, who is now in contact with our customer services team, for their experience and how it was handled."
This is not the first time McDonalds has had to apologise for something relating to a customer's specific dietary needs.
In April, a man found bacon in his vegan McPlant burger, leading to the fast food giant quickly offering a cash voucher as compensation, and saying sorry for its mistake.
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