#1Jan 26th, 2010
Teen burned in KFC poutine mishap
By DON PEAT, TORONTO SUN
Last Updated: 19th January 2010, 9:07am
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Kendell Lakin, 15, of Acton, burned her face after having an epileptic seizure at KFC and falling into her poutine. (Photo courtesy of the Lakin family) This doesn’t sound finger lickin’ good.
An Acton teen was left with second-degree burns Saturday after having an epileptic seizure inside a KFC outlet and landing face-down in her piping-hot poutine.
Her irate father told the Sun Monday he’s not after a multi-million dollar lawsuit, he just wants to speak out to warn others and perhaps get the Colonel to turn the temperature down on the cheese and gravy.
Lee Lakin said he even accepts some responsibility for the incident because he let his daughter Kendell, 15, go to fast-food outlet alone on Saturday.
“I’m not looking for $10 million,” Lakin said. “I’m looking for someone to stand up and say, ‘We’re sorry Mr. Lakin, we’re sorry Kendell. We want to make this right and hey everybody this food is hot.’”
When his daughter went into a full seizure inside the town’s Queen St. KFC, the teen fell forward into the poutine she had just purchased, burning her chin and neck.
Customers in the restaurant rushed to her aid, pulling her out of the Canadian classic dish. Someone inside the restaurant called 911 and her family.
Lakin got to the eatery a short time later and while paramedics were tending to his daughter, her chin started to blister and her neck appeared red and burned. She went to the hospital and was treated for second-degree burns.
Her chin and bottom lip have several large blisters.
“Her whole neck area was brutally red,” Lakin said, adding even the hospital staff were shocked the burns were caused by gravy.
A trip back to the KFC Sunday to speak to the manager got dad boiling mad, because he said personnel seemed to show little concern for his daughter.
“One comment the manager said to me was, ‘The poutine comes in frozen so we really have to heat it up,’” Lakin said. “KFC needs to figure out how to make this poutine without burning people.
“You’ve got hot gravy and hot cheese, two really hot elements in there.”
Priszm Income Funds, the franchisee that owns the Acton location, issued a statement to the Sun, expressing its concern about the incident.
“We feel terrible for our customer,” the statement read. “We are grateful that the customer is now recovering.”
“While this particular situation is highly unusual, KFC in Canada is not only committed to ensuring that our customers receive high quality products, but we also take food safety and the general safety of our customers very seriously.”
The statement stressed that KFC in Canada complies with all government food standards.
“Government regulations require that our gravy meets the critical control point compliance requirements of temperatures between 140 degrees Fahrenheit and 165 degrees Fahrenheit,” the franchisee stated. “We’ve confirmed that our Acton store continues to meet these food safety standards.”
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Teen burned in KFC poutine mishap | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
