An Aberdeenshire mum has warned her child could have choked on a piece of sharp plastic found inside her daughter’s Aldi chicken nugget.
Milene Grecco said her four-year-old daughter had complained about the “funny taste” of her dinner on Tuesday night.
And on further inspection she found the frozen product contained more than just chicken.
The 36-year-old said she had just taken a bit when she noticed the piece of plastic.
She said: “She had just started eating when she asked me what the flavour of the nuggets was. I replied to say they didn’t have a flavour, but just chicken.
“Then she showed me what she had in her mouth – and I was so shocked. It was really sharp and big. It could easily have got stuck in her throat”
Mrs Grecco proceeded to extract the piece of white plastic and contacted Aldi customer services via an e-mail. The company responded “within ten minutes” to Mrs Grecco’s message and advised her to take the piece of plastic and the food wrapping straight away to her nearest store.
However, Mrs Grecco decided to contact the Environmental Health department instead.
She explained: “It is very scary and I do not want this to happen to anyone else – I think the public should be made aware of this danger.
“People might have bought these – the public should be aware.”
Environmental Health sets out the procedures for food complaints and a spokeswoman stated: “Food complaints should be reported to Environmental Health whether in respect of a specific product (foreign body in frozen food) or an unhygienic practice observed in a food premises.
“In this instance, as the complainant lives in Newtonhill, she should contact the EH area office in Stonehaven who will arrange to collect the subject of complaint and submit it to the lab for identification of the foreign body.”
Aldi were asked to comment, but had not replied as we went to print last night.
Anyone else who has been affected by a similar product contamination should contact Environmental Health at:
www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/environment/environmental-protection/Local-Offices/