Severed Snake Head Found in Broccoli Dish

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — T.G.I. Friday's says a severed snake head found in a dish of broccoli at one of its upstate New York restaurants was apparently planted in the meal.

Diner Jack Pendleton says he found the decayed snake head the size of his thumb while dining last Sunday in Clifton Park.

The Ballston Lake, N.Y., man said he thought at first it was a mushroom.

The Carrollton, Texas, company today said it's asked the New York State Police to open a criminal investigation into product tampering.

Spokeswoman Amy Freshwater says tests by an independent lab confirmed the snake head was added to the cooked broccoli. The company doesn't know who put the head in the meal.

"This is obviously something we took very seriously and we immediately pulled the product from all of our restaurants until an investigation could be completed," Amy Freshwater, vice president of communication and public relations for Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, the parent of T.G.I. Friday's told AFP.

Pendleton says -- he didn't do it.

Pendleton says he hadn't intended to go public, but he e-mailed his cell phone photo of the head to his friends -- and one of them posted it on a consumer complaint Web site.
 

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