A photo of raw chicken nuggets at Atherton Union on Oct. 24. Photo courtesy of Max Tucker.

ZACH HORRALL | DIGITAL EDITOR | zhorrall@butler.edu

Several Butler students consumed raw chicken nuggets during what students affectionately refer to “nugget night” in Atherton Union on Oct. 24.

Max Tucker, a junior entrepreneurship and innovation major, noticed the raw meat when he got his nuggets after waiting in line for a while. He said when he sat down to eat, he took a bite out of the food and could immediately tell it was not fully cooked.

“I took a bite of my nugget and noticed it felt really soft in my mouth not firm like a normal nugget,” Tucker said. “There was no snap to the nugget, and I looked inside and it was pink and gooey, really gross.”

He said upon further investigation, all of the chicken nuggets he received from the fresh batch he watched Atherton staff make were raw. Tucker said he tried to tell someone from Dining Services, but he could not find any management-level people to talk to.

Vice President of Student Affairs Frank Ross said he reached out to Tucker and another student to ensure they were no longer feeling sick. He added that Aramark is planning to discuss the incident and how to move forward.

“This does not represent the type of experience we want for our students, and this is unacceptable,” Ross said in an email statement. “The executive team from Aramark is meeting to discuss this matter, and my expectation is that they take corrective action immediately to ensure this does not occur again. My goal is go elevate Butler residential dining to national best practice standard, and we are currently working diligently in the process to recruit and select a dining partner who can help us realize that goal.”

Christy White, general manager of Butler’s Dining Services, also apologized for the incident and said they are currently investigating the incident.

“Serving safe, nutritious and quality food is our top priority,” White said in an email statement. “Nothing is more important to Dining Services than food safety and the customer experience we deliver. We take all concerns about food safety very seriously, and investigate every concern that is brought to our attention. We will use this as a teaching moment with our staff to reinforce our food safety processes and procedures.”