McMuffin cost traveller £1,500 when it was found in his backpack
A backpacker has paid the highest price ever for a McDonald’s McMuffin – and he didn’t even get to eat it.
The unidentified traveller was sniffed out of a queue by a black Labrador called Zinta at Darwin airport after touching down in Australia on a flight from Bali.
Inside his bag he had two sausage and egg McMuffins and a ham croissant.
He was fined AU$2,664 (£1,500) for failing to declare potential high biosecurity risk items and providing a false and misleading document.
The country is on high alert against foot and mouth, particularly on people arriving from Indonesia where the highly contagious disease has been running rampant.
If it arrived in Australia, experts predict that it could cost the country AU$80 billion over the next decade.
Agriculture minister Murray Watt said: ‘This will be the most expensive Macca’s meal this passenger ever has’.
‘This fine is twice the cost of an airfare to Bali, but I have no sympathy for people who choose to disobey Australia’s strict biosecurity measures, and recent detections show you will be caught.’
He added that the government was taking unprecedented measures to stop the disease from crossing the country’s borders.
‘Australia is FMD-free, and we want it to stay that way.
‘Biosecurity is no joke — it helps protect jobs, our farms, food and supports the economy.
‘Passengers who choose to travel need to make sure they are fulfilling the conditions to enter Australia, by following all biosecurity measures.’
The McDonald’s meals were set to be destroyed after being tested for foot and mouth.
In a similar story, a woman was fined the same amount for bringing a Subway into the country from Singapore.
She said: ‘It is my mistake, but like, I bought a foot-long Subway at Singapore airport because I was a hungry girl after my 11-hour flight.
‘I ate six inches before my second flight and then saved the other six inches for the flight, which they’re more than happy with.
‘I thought the little declaration thing you do is for your carry-ons and your luggage, so I didn’t tick chicken and I didn’t tick lettuce. Chicken and lettuce.’
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