Customers not put off KFC burgers by cockroach reports

Justin Hogan (R) and Maaria Watford of Green Bay tuck into a KFC lunch outside the New Lynn KFC restaurant yesterday. Picture / Martin Sykes

Customers were not put off their burgers from a KFC outlet yesterday despite learning the store had an "E" hygiene rating for serving up a burger with a cockroach inside.

"I thought if they were open, they met health regulations," said Maaria Watford, who was tucking into a chicken burger outside KFC's New Lynn restaurant on Great North Rd.

She was happy to finish it, she said, because she had already peered inside it to take out the lettuce.

"I might have to go back to McDonald's, are they alright?" she asked.

New Lynn store manager Steve, who has been in charge at the restaurant for 18 months but who would not give his surname, said he had spoken with his area manager on Sunday but could make no further comment.

The restaurant's hygiene certificate was not displayed, he said, because "it's still coming in the mail".

KFC area manager John McMeekin also declined to comment.

The New Lynn KFC was given an E hygiene rating by Waitakere City Council this month after food inspectors found cockroaches on the premises, the Herald on Sunday reported.

The inspection was sparked by two complaints from members of the public, one of whom found a whole cockroach in a Zinger burger. The customer took back the burger but was not satisfied by the manager's assurances staff would look into the matter.

E grade is the lowest possible rating under New Zealand food hygiene rules and New Lynn KFC is the only E-grade restaurant in Auckland.

While the store didn't have its new certificate, it should, by law, have been displaying the D-grade certificate it got late last year.

The majority of KFC's 96 stores are owned by Restaurant Brands which also runs Pizza Hut and Starbucks.

Restaurant Brands chief executive Vicki Salmon told the Herald on Sunday KFC had strong food hygiene policies and procedures.

"It is very disappointing this has happened," she said.

"We have to deal with the council on this and we've done that and it's been fixed."

She said part of the reason for the store operating poorly was its age.

"We know that the store is quite old and we need to put some investment back into it," she said.

KFC sells around 116 tonnes of chicken and 120,000 burgers each week with total New Zealand sales of $173.1 million last year.