International food box delivery service HelloFresh has scrambled to apologise after a UK man says he discovered a bottle of urine in his food box - presumably not as a little treat for a loyal customer.
In a story that seems too disgusting to be true, Oliver McManus shared a snap of a wee-filled Coke bottle, questioning the social media accounts of HelloFresh how and why the offending item had made it into his delivery.
"Hey @HelloFreshUK, I'll keep it simple: why have I received someone's bottled up piss as part of my order?" McManus tweeted on Sunday (local time).
Of course, the tweet quickly garnered a lot of attention. When other Twitter users speculated the bottle was actually full of apple juice, McManus offered them access to the offending item.
"I'll send it to you and you can have a whiff in case you're sceptical," he tweeted.
Others thought it might be a prank by the recipient, to which he responded: "It's not a joke."
"I wish it was," he added.
A spokesperson for HelloFresh soon replied to McManus on Twitter, saying they "truly lack the words to describe how sorry we are because of this".
They then provided an official statement to media, saying they were "horrified".
"Given the wholly unacceptable nature, we are urgently investigating, along with our delivery company, how an open box with this bottle in it was delivered," they said.
"We have apologised directly to Mr McManus and offered an appropriate goodwill gesture. We are working hard to do everything we can to ensure that this cannot happen again."
Of course, the food delivery service may not be to blame. Replies to McManus' tweet pointed out that the bottle may have been left there by a warehouse worker or a delivery driver - further evidenced by McManus saying that the box was already opened when it arrived.
"The last thing I would want is for anyone to get sacked or in trouble as a result of this incident. It is unfortunate that it happened but I'm sure it raises some wider questions about working conditions in the UK," he told The Independent.
In one final tweet, he added: "Am I concerned about wider working conditions in the UK? Yes. Do I think anyone deserves to be sacked? No. Did I think so many people would care? No. Will I keep tweeting about boxing? Yes."
