Wendy's offer reward over finger in chilli

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Reports of a severed human finger in a bowl of chilli at a Wendy's restaurant have hit the firm's sales in the San Francisco area, a company spokesman says.

"We've had a severe sales impact from this, particularly in the San Francisco-San Jose bay area," said spokesman Bob Bertini from Wendy's corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, on Saturday.

"It's very important to us to find out what happened in this incident. We believe someone knows exactly how the piece of finger got into the chilli bowl," he said.

The company has offered a $50,000 (26,520 pounds) reward to the first person offering verifiable information about how the finger found its way into a bowl of chilli at a franchise in San Jose, California, on March 22.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported this week that police has searched the home of Anna Ayala of Las Vegas, who filed a complaint about biting into a human finger after spooning up a mouthful of chilli at the San Jose Wendy's on March 22.

The Chronicle reported on Saturday that Ayala has filed legal complaints against commercial establishments before. She won a claim against a restaurant after her daughter contracted salmonella poisoning in 2003. She sued a car dealership and tire manufacturer after an accident in 2000. That case was dismissed.

Wendy's has said its own investigation found no evidence of any finger or hand accidents among workers or suppliers at the San Jose franchise in late March.

Police also focused on where the finger had come from.

"From a law enforcement point of view, once you establish it is a human finger, you have to wonder is this a case of industrial accident or is this a case of unreported homicide," Muyo said.