--- title: This Applebee's Customer Found a Fingertip in Her Salad description: A pregnant woman has filed a claim against Applebee's stating that she found a piece of bloody fingertip in her salad while dining at one of the chain's California locations. canonical: https://time.com/4175665/applebees-customer-finds-fingertip-in-salad/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-11T19:07:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:28:32.937Z og:title: This Applebee's Customer Found a Fingertip in Her Salad og:description: The restaurant released a statement saying the incident was "unacceptable" og:url: https://time.com/4175665/applebees-customer-finds-fingertip-in-salad/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb897e8d0ffa01c94/6988787f196cf43126039cad/applebees-fingertip-salad.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Applebee's restaurant exterior logo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Applebee's Customer Found a Fingertip in Her Salad twitter:description: The restaurant released a statement saying the incident was "unacceptable" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb897e8d0ffa01c94/6988787f196cf43126039cad/applebees-fingertip-salad.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Applebee's Customer Found a Fingertip in Her Salad > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=fa0943e2-71a5-41a5-bf6a-d26d0ae1cde0&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 11, 2016 7:07 PM UTC  Applebee's restaurant exterior logo Applebee's restaurant exterior logo John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 11, 2016 7:07 PM UTC A pregnant woman has filed a claim against [Applebee’s](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1905549%5F1905546%5F1905465,00.html) stating that she found a piece of bloody fingertip in her salad while dining at one of the chain’s California locations. Cathleen Martin said that she, her husband, and their child were sharing a Chinese chicken salad when they discovered the severed fingertip. “It was so gross,” Martin told the [San Luis Obispo Tribune](http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article53524005.html). “I’m on pins and needles worrying about what my [family might have been exposed to](http://time.com/75810/which-will-make-you-sicker-four-star-v-fast-food/).” Although the company stated that it can not legally require the fingertip’s owner to undergo any medical testing, the cook has agreed to a screening in order to “provide the peace of mind Mrs. Martin seeks.” Alan Knapp, area director of the franchise, has expressed that the incident was “unacceptable,” and that his team members will be undergoing extensive retraining in order to ensure that nothing like this happens again. Martin’s claim seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress, medical expenses for testing and lost income. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4175665/applebees-customer-finds-fingertip-in-salad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4175665/applebees-customer-finds-fingertip-in-salad/"},"headline":"This Applebee's Customer Found a Fingertip in Her Salad","datePublished":"2016-01-11T19:07:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:28:32.937Z","description":"The restaurant released a statement saying the incident was \"unacceptable\"","url":"https://time.com/4175665/applebees-customer-finds-fingertip-in-salad/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","restaurants"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb897e8d0ffa01c94/6988787f196cf43126039cad/applebees-fingertip-salad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb897e8d0ffa01c94/6988787f196cf43126039cad/applebees-fingertip-salad.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Applebee's restaurant exterior logo","caption":"Applebee's restaurant exterior logo","creditText":"John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4175665/applebees-customer-finds-fingertip-in-salad/","name":"This Applebee's Customer Found a Fingertip in Her Salad"}}]}] ```