An Australian woman has shared a “disgusting” find in a steak she ordered at a restaurant, with footage showing live maggots wriggling inside the meat.
The woman had headed out for a meal on Nov. 10 with her husband and son.
They chose to dine at Lone Star Rib House Penrith, where depending on the type ordered, a piece of steak can cost up to $42.
But when her meal arrived at the table, she could almost instantly see something was “wrong.”
“I sort of zoomed in, looking at the piece of steak and thought, ‘That’s really odd, there are things moving,’” she told the ABC.
At first, her husband thought it might be seasoning but, on closer inspection, realized he was looking at maggots, the woman claimed.
When she flagged the issue with a staff member, they pointed out the restaurant’s optimal food and health safety rating, she said.
Her plate was taken back to the kitchen but staff said they had no idea how the maggots got into the steak, she claimed.
She said she was also told the maggots came from the salad and not the steak.
“[The maggots] were having the time of their life on that piece of steak, and there was not one maggot on the salad,” she said.
“But either way, there should not have been maggots on the plate at all.
“The way I see it there are at least two, maybe three people in that restaurant handling the piece of steak … how did not one of those people notice the steak was moving?
The Blue Mountains woman, who did not want to be identified, also turned down a replacement meal as she was “grossed out” and wanted to leave.
Lone Star Rib House would not comment on the video or “personal views on the venue’s hygiene standards” but said an independent environmental health officer had conducted an inspection the next day after a complaint was made.
“Following a thorough assessment, the inspection revealed no areas of concern,” they said.
The inspection did not find flies on the premises and noted the meat was stored in sealed bagging.
The “food safety incident” was being investigated by Penrith City Council, a spokesperson said, while it was also consulting with the NSW Food Authority.
“Council’s inspection is incorporating all aspects — from food received by the supplier, food storage at the business and food preparation,” they said.
“Council had previously completed a routine and unannounced inspection at the business on 5 November, which did not identify any concerns.”
But the woman said she was still waiting for an apology as the experience has made her paranoid about cooking beef and has turned her off steak.
“We were out for a family meal, we were hungry, something really disgusting and inappropriate had happened and no one owned up to that,” she added.
