Luke Alsford
Published November 23, 2025 10:45am
Updated November 23, 2025 10:45am
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The child got the bottle from a drive-thru in Germany (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A two-year-old girl ended up in hospital after drinking from McDonald’s Happy Meal bottle ‘filled with cleaning fluid’.
Katharina Schlemm, 34, visited the drive-thru of a McDonald’s branch in the Kassel-Bettenhausen region of Hesse, Germany, with her daughter on Thursday.
The mother claims that instead of water, the Happy Meal’s drinking bottle contained ‘a strongly alcoholic-smelling liquid, probably a disinfectant’, according to the Hessisch-Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA).
She said the child ‘turned bright red’ and screamed after drinking from the 0.33-litre bottle.
The 0.33 litre bottle allegedly contained ‘disinfectant’ (Picture: Getty Images)
The mum then called the police after the shift supervisor allegedly did not take the situation seriously and demanded the bottle back.
A police spokesperson confirmed officers are now investigating on suspicion of negligent bodily harm.
Authorities confiscated the bottle in question and are analysing the contents.
Paramedics treated the 2-year-old at the McDonald’s before her mother took her to Kassel Hospital to rule out poisoning.
The police said the child was ‘not seriously injured’ and there is also no sign of any intentional wrongdoing on behalf of the McDonald’s.
Another witnesses contacted the HNA newspaper saying they had witnessed the commotion.
McDonald’s said they were ‘fully cooperating’ with the investigation (Picture: Getty Images)
They said: ‘I wanted to eat in peace, and then there was a huge commotion and lots of flashing blue lights.’
Ms Schlemm said has no idea how the alleged disinfectant ended up in the bottoe.
She said: ‘When I opened the bottle a short time later in the parking lot, I didn’t notice anything amiss.’
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The bottle had a ‘sports cap’, the police confirmed.
McDonald’s press office in Munich is aware of the incident in Kassel, a company spokesperson told the HNA newspaper.
They said they are ‘fully cooperating with the investigation’ but ‘cannot make any further statements until the matter is clarified.’
The spokesperson added that they are ‘deeply affected by the events.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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