Aldi shoppers' concerning discoveries in popular products sparks warning: 'Be careful'
On customer found something unexpected in her dinner but according to an expert, it's not uncommon.
An Aldi shopper has cautioned their fellow customers after finding something concerning in one of their purchases. Taking to a popular Facebook group, the consumer shared a photo of a packet of Ready, Set Cook Waygu Beef Burgers.
Next to the photo of the product they shared one of the cooked burgers and what appears to be a tiny speck of blue. "A blue small piece of plastic was spotted in my 6yo's burger. Please be careful," they wrote.
According to Food Safety Plus director Edward McCartney, plastics in our food are (unfortunately) more common than we realise. This was certainly reflected in the comments on the post as several people revealed they had experienced something similar - and not just from Aldi products.
"Few years back had a meal out and one of the family members had that type of plastic in the chicken parma," one group member shared.
"That happened to me once before with meat from Woolies, looked to be part of a rubber glove," said another.
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"I found a piece of blue plastic in a sausage when we were having tea one night," another revealed.
"Wow looks the same as a blue piece of plastic I found in Aldi pita bread," a fourth added, along with a photo.
Urges for product to be reported
Many of the group members urged the original poster to return the product to Aldi or, at the very least, call them to report the issue.
"Take it back to Aldi maybe needs to product recalled or ring them up. Thank you for the heads up," one shopper wrote.
"I love these burger patties! I will still continue to buy them. This can happen anywhere. It could have been a bad batch. Just let them know, they will refund and do what they need to do with internal processes and procedures," said another.
"Definitely contact Aldi. They might need to recall the product," a third said.
Another suggested, "Please report it to the NSW Food Authority (if located in NSW) and they will investigate the manufacturer issue. At the very least report it to the Health Team at your local Council."
The poster explained that they had contacted Aldi, only to be assured that this was an "isolated incident" and that the grocery chain would be monitoring the product closely based on the shopper's feedback.
Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle, Edward cautions that foreign objects in food such as plastics can pose several health hazards, ranging from minor discomfort to serious injury. Cuts, lacerations, gastrointestinal blockages and choking are just some of the risks associated with food that contains a foreign object, according to Edward.
Shoppers try to identify blue plastic
Meanwhile, among all of the comments was a recurring theory - that the blue plastic was from the gloves worn during the manufacturing process.
"Disposable gloves used during food production are mostly blue," one group member commented.
"That happened to me once before with meat from Woolies, looked to be part of a rubber glove," said another.
"It’s a piece of blue glove. We have banned the thin plastic gloves at my abattoir because they split too easily. Meat should have an establishment number on the packaging, you can use that est. number to look up the abattoir and contact them to send it into their QA department for investigation," another person helpfully shared.
Food safety expert weighs in
"Blue plastic is often used in food processing environments to facilitate its identification and removal," Edward confirms.
According to Edward, "Sources of plastic in food processing environments are remarkably common" and can originate from packaging materials, processing equipment or protective clothing.
"One of the primary sources of blue plastic in food products is packaging materials," he says. "Many food items are packaged in blue plastic films or containers, which can sometimes break or shed small fragments. This is especially prevalent in processed foods where automated packaging lines might cause wear and tear on the materials."
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He continues, "Workers in food processing plants typically wear protective clothing, such as blue coloured gloves and aprons. These items can occasionally tear or deteriorate, introducing plastic fragments into the food."
Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to Aldi for comment.
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