A shopper was left stunned after claiming he found two shards of broken glass or plastic in a his ready-made meal he bought from the supermarket.
James Smith, 68, who bought his cheese and onion quiche meal from Aldi, said he just started eating when - all of a sudden - he bit down onto something hard and crunchy, report StokeOnTrent Live.
The retired paramedic then went on to describe that he took the strange object out of his mouth, and was shocked to find it was a piece of glass or plastic - approximately a whopping three centimetres in length.
Horrifyingly, the man from Wolstanton claimed that upon continuing to rummage around in his food, he then found another piece in the same pie.
Explaining his disgust at what he found, Mr Smith said: “When I crunched on it, it felt like a bone. Immediately, I was stunned and horrified. I showed it to my wife and she couldn’t believe it. When I poked around in the food I was dumbfounded.
“It looked like a very long stem of a wine glass or a laboratory pipette. One piece was about three centimetres long and the other four centimetres."
The 68-year-old then went on to add: “As a former paramedic I’ve seen the things that can happen when you ingest something sharp. I’m not interested in money. It could have lacerated the inside of my mouth, my throat, my oesophagus, and my stomach.”
Aldi informed him that as he also had cauliflower cheese and baked beans on his plate, it would be “difficult to investigate” - as the products came from two different suppliers.
But, the supermarket did offer him a £30 voucher as a gesture of goodwill, which Mr Smith said was a complete "insult" to him.
Mr Smith went on to complain to Aldi on Twitter.
And in response, an Aldi customer service advisor said: "I would like to assure you that Aldi works closely with all suppliers to ensure we are delivering the highest quality products to our customers. Our products go through stringent quality checks to ensure they are to the required standard. I apologise sincerely if the quality checks have fallen short on this occasion.
"Upon reviewing this complaint further, and with the images you have shared with us, we can see that multiple products were used in your meal. Sadly, this does make it difficult for us to start an investigation with any of our suppliers as we would be unable to determine which product and which supplier this has possibly come from.
"Nevertheless, I would like to assure you that we still monitor all customer feedback in relation to our products, and we will continue to insist on the highest standards at all times. On this occasion, I would like to arrange for a £30 voucher to be sent to your email address as a gesture of goodwill."
Aldi has also confirmed it had apologised to James, with an Aldi spokesperson saying: “We have apologised to Mr Smith that this product did not meet our usual high standards. We work closely with our suppliers to ensure that all products go through stringent checks and quality controls.
"We would encourage Mr Smith to return the item so that we can investigate the matter fully with our supplier.”
