Diner Gets Salad With Thumb Part

An Ohio woman was served a salad containing part of a restaurant worker’s thumb sliced off while chopping lettuce, a health official said Friday.

The woman “thought it was gristle or something like that” when she tried to chew the unexpected garnish, said William Franks, health commissioner for Stark County, where the incident occurred earlier this week.

“Physically I think she’s OK, other than hysteria,” Franks added.

Stark County officials did not release the woman’s name.

The restaurant worker sliced off a piece of his thumb, including part of the fingernail, while chopping the ingredients Monday night at the Red Robin restaurant near Canton.

Despite a search, it could not be found.

“The salad should have been discarded,” Franks said.

Instead, the workers sanitized the counter area and then refrigerated the ingredients before rushing off to get medical help for the man.

The salad fixings were then served to a lunch crowd Tuesday, when the piece of thumb was discovered by the patron. The restaurant is part of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc.

Red Robin spokesman Dwayne Chambers said employees failed to follow the chain’s procedures and throw out all food in the area of the accident.

“We clearly had a breakdown,” he said. “We are incredibly sorry about what happened.”