Connecticut Mom Says McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy Contained Suspected Marijuana
A routine after-school stop at McDonald’s turned into a troubling discovery for one Connecticut family when a 7-year-old girl opened a toy from her Happy Meal and found what her aunt said appeared to be marijuana.
Brittany Fitzpatrick told FOX61 that her niece had finished her meal and was playing with a small plastic house from the restaurant’s promotional toy lineup when she noticed “rocks” inside. Fitzpatrick said she examined the toy and saw a green, leafy substance that she believed to be marijuana.
The meal was purchased Aug. 28 at a McDonald’s on South Main Street in Middletown. Fitzpatrick had taken her young children and niece for an after-school treat and brought the food home before the discovery.
Fitzpatrick immediately kept the toy away from the girl and called Middletown Police, who took custody of both the toy and its contents. The family said no one was harmed, and the child knew not to put the material in her mouth. Still, her mother, Shelby Winborne, said the situation was alarming because a younger child might not have understood the risk.
“Thankfully, she knows not to just put everything in her mouth,” Winborne told the station, adding that the family was left trying to explain why something meant for adults had turned up in a children’s meal.
The toy was part of a 12-piece Stranger Things: Tales of '85 collection, designed and sourced by tms, a company that creates promotional toys for McDonald’s. In a Facebook video, Fitzpatrick showed the material inside the toy and said it had not come in a sealed bag.
Fitzpatrick said she called the restaurant several times and also contacted McDonald’s corporate office, but as of the time the report aired, she had received neither an apology nor an explanation. Winborne said a restaurant manager told the family the staff didn’t know who could have placed the material inside. A manager at the South Main Street location told CT Insider the restaurant was unaware of the incident, and McDonald’s corporate office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Middletown Police told CT Insider the matter remained under investigation, with the department’s narcotics unit handling the inquiry. Officers said they hoped to resolve the case soon.
“If it happened to me, it could happen to someone else,” Fitzpatrick said. “This is about children.”
The incident has renewed concerns among parents about safety in fast-food children’s meals, particularly as promotional toys are increasingly linked to popular adult-focused entertainment franchises. McDonald’s has not publicly addressed whether it has changed any procedures for how toys are handled or packaged.