Matt Dionne | Sports and Health Editor
Featured image: Students take to Change.org to voice their distaste with York’s food options, particularily with the food quality of Popeyes at York Lanes. | Jenny Mao
After first-year criminology student Behzad Khademi ordered a sandwich from Popeyes at York Lanes, he was shocked by what he found. According to Khademi, his sandwich was prepared with spoiled ingredients.
“The lettuce wet and mouldy, it was leaking a foul-smelling fluid all over the bread and, on top of that, the tomato was also mushy and was the last slice that you normally throw out,” says Khademi.
In response, Khademi created a Change.org petition that has since attracted 181 signatures, displaying pictures of the sandwich he received and demanding that Popeyes at York Lanes be held accountable for serving poor quality food. The petition is intended to be delivered to Toronto Public Health, York, York Lanes, the City of Toronto and York students once it reaches 200 signatures.
“I’m tired of being served unsanitary food without any respect to health safety, and given poor quality meals from the York Lanes stores such as Popeyes,” reads the petition.
In a phone call between Khademi and Popeyes at York Lanes manager Iqbal Malik, the manager reportedly stated the restaurant uses fresh produce every day, and that the reason the lettuce and tomato looked less than appealing was because of the heat from the chicken on the sandwich.
He explained that during Khademi’s commute home, the heat from the chicken “cooked” the vegetables, causing them to change consistency.
Malik reportedly said that if Khademi were to come into the store and order another sandwich, when he returned home he would notice the produce on the new sandwich would look similar to that on the original.
Khademi disagreed, saying that based on knowledge gained from working in the food industry, he could tell the lettuce was spoiled, not cooked.
“Normally, I don’t complain about food quality, because most of the time it’s an issue of finding hair or getting a cold sandwich. But this was a case of negligence, poor food quality and not following proper sanitary protocols,” he says.
Khademi adds that he didn’t want any sort of refund or compensation, rather he wants to make sure that he and his fellow students are being served the best-possible quality of food: “Just because we’re students doesn’t mean we should be served poor-quality food.”
Several people have commented on the petition, claiming that Popeyes has served them undercooked chicken and rotten vegetables on their sandwiches. Comments also echo a general distaste toward food served on campus, referring to their lack of quality and requesting more frequent inspections.
Popeyes and Malik were unavailable for comment.
