Finger Has Lunch Crowd Rethinking Its Choices

Several in the lunch crowd at Wendy’s on Friday had heard the story about the finger, but it wasn’t enough to keep them away.

Three days earlier, a woman bit into part of a human finger while eating a bowl of chili at one of the restaurant chain’s six franchises here, according to Santa Clara County health officials.

Sheriff’s investigators are still trying to determine where the finger -- described as about an inch long and likely belonging to a woman -- came from.

If successful in lifting a print, they will enter it into a nationwide criminal database to help solve the mystery.

Since news of the incident broke, sales at the Monterey Road franchise “have gone down dramatically,” said Denny Lynch, a spokesman for the Ohio-based restaurant chain.

“Their sales are off and they will continue to be off,” Lynch said. “It’s pretty understandable. It’s not just a one-day deal.”

The incident occurred Tuesday when a customer took a bite of her chili and found what later was confirmed to be a human finger, said Ben Gale, environmental health director for the county Department of Health.

“She is suffering from trauma and the shock of finding this thing in her chili,” he said.

The San Jose Mercury News identified her as Anna Ayala, 39, of Las Vegas.

Ayala told the Mercury News that she feels nauseous when thinking of the finger in her soup and is still losing sleep over the incident.

“That is very sick, sick, sick,” she told the newspaper.

“It’s disgusting. You’re playing with the human race.... It’s a taste I have never tasted in my whole life.”

Following the incident, workers were immediately checked and questioned by restaurant managers and authorities.

“None of the employees that worked that day had any missing fingers,” Lynch said. “We have found no evidence to lead us to believe that we are the sources of this object.”

In addition to the sheriff’s investigation, the county coroner’s office plans to conduct a chemical analysis next week to determine whether the finger was cooked in the chili at the restaurant or possibly came from an outside source.

Suppliers of the ingredients used to make the chili -- beans, tomatoes, ground beef and seasonings -- are being traced to verify whether employee accidents involving fingers or hands had been reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Gale said.

The investigation, which will include tracking suppliers around the country, could take three to four weeks, he said.

Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, reports of possible product contamination can have a severe effect on a business.

In 1987, a 2-inch-long finger supposedly was discovered in a can of Juanita’s menudo, a Mexican stew sold commercially. But federal inspectors later determined that the object was not a finger but a connective tissue found in tripe, a beef byproduct that is a main ingredient of menudo.

Nevertheless, the report significantly affected the company’s business.

But at lunchtime Friday, the parking lot at the Wendy’s in San Jose remained full and a steady stream of customers flowed in and out.

Many had heard about what happened, but were unaware of the restaurant location.

Patron Erica Braddock said she thought it over and ordered the chili anyway.

“I’m going to look through it first and pray,” she said.

Others were more hesitant.

“I didn’t get [the chili] today,” said Josh Zappel. “I said, ‘Just give me the cheeseburgers instead.’ ”