A US woman has claimed to have found a human fingertip in her chicken wrap order from a restaurant in Astoria, New York. The woman, identified as Mary Elizabeth Smith, 43, of Manhattan, said she was left "permanently traumatised" after biting into the chicken wrap that contained a human fingertip, including the nail.
As per a lawsuit filed by Ms Smith, the incident transpired in 2023 when she ordered the item at Create Astoria, a Mediterranean restaurant in Queens, where she was used to eating at least twice a week.
"She bit into [the wrap], could tell something wasn't right, and spit it out," her lawyer, Robert Menna, was quoted as saying by New York Post. "It was horrifying for her."
Mr Menna said the fingertip was sent to a lab for testing, and it was revealed that the tissue was from a human female.
In the aftermath of the incident, Ms Smith had to undergo intense antiretroviral therapy to fend off any potentially deadly diseases the severed fingertip may have exposed her to.
“This has left me very cautious about anything that I am eating. It took me a really long time to work up the courage to eat chicken again. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen," said Ms Smith.
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'Presposterous lawsuit'
Meanwhile, Teddy Karagiannis, the restaurant owner, called Ms Smith's lawsuit "preposterous" and "fraudulent", adding that there were no female employees working on the day of the incident.
"I never have female employees working the prep line. She doesn't want to do DNA testing on [the fingertip], which would prove it [didn't come] from one of my employees," said Mr Karagiannis.
"You'd have a better chance of hitting the lotto twice in one day than someone [at Create] not noticing a piece of finger. It's ridiculous,"
Mr Karagiannis added that he intended to countersue over the 'appalling' allegations.
