A 43-year-old woman in New York claims she bit into a “human fingertip” while eating a chicken wrap from a local restaurant, forcing her to undergo HIV post-exposure treatment and leaving her with lasting psychological trauma.
According to a lawsuit filed on September 7 in the New York County Supreme Court, the incident occurred on November 17, 2023. The woman, Mary Elizabeth Smith of Manhattan, had ordered a chicken wrap for takeout from the Mediterranean eatery Create Astoria in Queens—an order that turned into a nightmare.
Smith’s lawyer, Robert Menna, told Time magazine, “She bit into the wrap and found a piece of a finger. Fortunately, she didn’t swallow it.” He alleges that the restaurant’s negligence caused Smith “serious injury, pain, shock, and emotional distress.”
The alleged fingertip was sent to a lab and confirmed to belong to a human female. However, the restaurant maintains that no female staff were working that day, and its insurer, Liberty Mutual, denies the claims.
Restaurant owner Teddy Karagiannis called Smith’s allegations “completely ridiculous,” saying that meals go through multiple inspection points before reaching customers. He suggested that Smith might have obtained the finger elsewhere and is trying to file a fraudulent claim. Karagiannis also stated he plans to countersue for defamation if necessary.
Liberty Mutual has not yet responded to requests for comment.
