KFC apologizes after battery found inside egg tart filling

Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) KFC Taiwan apologized Wednesday after a customer said they found a whole battery inside the filling of an egg tart purchased at a branch in Kaohsiung, an incident first revealed in a post on social media platform Threads.

In the post on Tuesday, the customer said they bought the egg tarts at KFC's Nanzih store and discovered a dark object inside one while preparing to microwave it after it had gone cold.

Photos and video shared online showed what appeared to be a battery embedded at the bottom of a partially eaten tart.

"My family kept telling me to microwave it because it tastes better hot, but I was too lazy and just ate it as it was -- which ended up saving my whole family," the customer wrote.

In a statement, the company apologized for causing distress to consumers, saying it takes the matter "very seriously" and has launched an internal investigation and review.

The fast food chain said the incident was preliminarily determined to be the result of a lapse in operating procedures at an individual store, which allowed a foreign object to mistakenly enter the product during preparation.

KFC said it has conducted a full review of operations at the Nanzih branch and attempted to contact the customer to express concern, but has not yet received a response.

The company has also initiated inspections and reinforced operating procedures at stores nationwide, including stricter pre-service checks, it said.

The incident sparked heated discussion online, with some self-identified former employees questioning how a battery could remain intact after baking at high temperatures, while others said the video did not appear staged.