A dad was left stunned after a visit to McDonald's almost resulted in his son suffering an allergic reaction "that could have put him in the hospital".

The Cambridgeshire father, who wished to remain anonymous, said his son spotted the dangerous sesame seeds lurking in the middle of his Big Mac just as he was about to tuck in to the burger.

It came after he had already complained to restaurant staff that the order came with sesame seeds, even after he had made them aware of his son's allergies .

He and his son were offered a voucher worth just £10 as an apology.

He told Cambridgeshire Live : "I clearly asked at the drive-through for a plain burger, but then also specified that it also needed to be a plain bun without sesame seeds.

"At the counter I double-checked the bun and it had sesame seeds on it. I handed it back, and I am sure that just the top and bottom bun were replaced with a plain one.

"After we had driven off my son asked what the white things were on the piece of bread between the two bits of meat. I pulled over and it had around 20 sesame seeds stuck to it.

"This could have caused my son to have an allergic reaction that could have put him in hospital .

"The staff seemed very dismissive when I returned the bun the first time. I didn't go back after the second error.

"I would advise your staff are retrained to the seriousness of what could happen."

McDonald's apologised and customer services told the dad, who did not wish to be named, that their the branch manager had "reiterated the importance of being vigilant and attentive when assembling customer orders."

A spokesperson for McDonald's told Cambridgeshire Live: “We recognise that this mistake was unacceptable and sincerely apologise to the customer in question.

"We have a number of procedures in place to avoid inaccurate orders, and are disappointed that in this case these were clearly not followed.

“When it comes to sesame seeds, as with all allergens, we remind customers both within our restaurants and on our mobile app that they should ask a member of staff if they require allergen information.

"They will be provided with our allergen booklet which explains that we produce our food in kitchens where allergens are handled by our people, and where equipment and utensils are used for multiple menu items, including those containing allergens.

"While we try to keep things separate we cannot guarantee any item is allergen free.”

It came just three months after an almost-identical incident in another Cambridgeshire McDonald's .

In February James Gorick was left infuriated after his nine-year-old son received a sesame seed bun, after specifically ordering a plain one.

The boy's "severe" allergy meant that just one bite could have reaped disastrous – even fatal – consequences.

He, too, was offered just £10 by way of apology.

The dangers of food allergies were highlighted by the tragic case of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, which received national news coverage in 2018.

An inquest into the 15-year-old's death heard that she ate a Pret a Manger baguette which included sesame seed, which was not named in the list of ingredients.

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