(Newser) – What do you call a mozzarella stick without mozzarella? For McDonald's, "PR embarrassment" will do nicely. The chain began serving up mozzarella sticks across all of America this month, only to be met with a flood of images on social media from customers showing their sticks devoid of actual cheese, reports Business Insider. (Like so and like so.) The ridicule has prompted McDonald's to apologize and to explain that the cheese apparently "melted out during the baking process." It's hit or miss, evidently: The Delish blog ordered two sets of sticks and happily found cheese inside.

The Chicago Tribune finds a silver lining to the mess: McDonald's says the three-piece serving of sticks has 200 calories with cheese, so these cheese-challenged versions will be better for the waistline. "We are aware of a low volume of guest concerns about our Mozzarella Cheese Sticks," says a chain spokesperson. "We apologize to any customers who may have been affected. We are working to fix this in our restaurants." An observation from Consumerist: "As it turns out, cooking is tricky." (You can always just stick with the chocolatey fries.)

