An ALDI shopper is under fire for claiming she’s found “shotgun pellets” in a piece of corned beef, purchased from her local store.
Sharing on a popular Facebook page, the Canberra mum revealed how she discovered “metal balls” inside the slab of meat while she was eating it.
She said the incident lead her to book in an appointment for a stomach x-ray, nervous that she may have unwittingly consumed some of the foreign matter.
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However the ALDI shopper’s post sparked a heated response from many Facebook users, who argued that the small black balls appeared to be peppercorns and maintained that “no livestock are slaughtered with shotguns”.
An ALDI Australia spokesperson has told 7NEWS.com.au that the supermarket is “investigating the possibility that this product has not met our strict quality and safety standard” (see full statement below).
In her post, the woman said she was planning to serve the corned beef to her toddler before making the discovery.
“Today I prepared a whole piece of meat in a pressure cooker that I bought at ALDI in Gungalhin, I was in a hurry so I only added one garlic and salt,” she wrote on the Aldi Mums Facebook page.
“While I was tasting a piece that had just been taken out of the pot, I felt something hard and noticed that it was a metal ball.
“I checked the pot thoroughly but it was not part of the pot. Then I helped myself to another piece and realised there was one more I didn’t chew, I took it out and looked — ball was IN THE BETWEEN.
“Can I complain to Aldi? Has it happened to you? I was going to give that meat to my two-year-old daughter, now I’m afraid. I prefer to throw it away.”
She later added: “Update: shotgun pellets inside the cow meat! I have an abdominal [x-ray] for tomorrow to check if I ate some before noticed. There are more inside the meat.
“Please be careful, tomorrow I’ll go to ALDI to ask at least for a return to the price of the exams and GP, not just the price of meat ($14).”
The post prompted a huge response from hundreds of ALDI shoppers, many taking issue with her claims.
Scores of people suggested the small black balls were in fact peppercorns, prompting the mum to defend herself.
“Definitely metal ball, not pepper,” she wrote.
Another said: “That is not peppercorn! It’s completely round, the other one half is being covered by the meat. Definitely looks like something that shouldn’t be in there.”
Many more insisted it was unlikely that the livestock would’ve been killed with a shotgun.
“Aren’t cows shot with a power head not bullets?” one said.
Another wrote: “Cows aren’t shot with a shotgun they get a metal rod through the brain. Farmers don’t even use a shotgun, they use a gun that uses one bullet through the brain. This is very odd.”
A third said: “Good luck killing a cow with a pellet that big.”
One more added: “Some people just love a whinge. Some people have no idea — they are rarely slaughtered by shotgun.
“This is how some animals are killed — but not regularly in a slaughter house. Private kill yes. Go vego if the risks are too great.”
However others agreed that they foreign matter “definitely” appeared to be shotgun pellets.
“I worked in an abattoirs and one of my jobs was to find foreign objects in the meat and these are definitely shotgun pellets,” said one.
Another said: “Look like shot gun pellets to me.”
A third added: “Hubby said they are definitely shot gun pellets.”
Some suggested that the cow in question may have been shot at well before it was killed at an abattoir, leading to the irregular find.
“Would not have been slaughtered with shot gun but would have been shot previously by one and the pellets stayed lodged in muscle and skin healed over. That’s my assumption anyway,” one responded.
Another said: “Poor thing, someone’s probably had a shot near it on farm and it’s copped a few! Will never find out where they came from!”
A third noted: “It’s a pellet. The cow was probably shot at some point and it went unnoticed and just healed and it’s been embedded in the meat.
“If you can take the pellets and the package back to Aldi so they can send it to the manufacturer.”
Many agreed it needed further investigation.
“Take it to your local health inspector and have the object tested because if they are shotgun pellets this is a very serious issue,” one wrote. “The processing plant’s have metal detectors so this realistically shouldn’t be possible.”
One more said: “I think you should tell Aldi! They may have other contaminated mince! They should do a recall for something like this!”
ALDI responds
An ALDI Australia spokesperson has told 7NEWS.com.au that it has not received any similar complaints.
“We are in direct contact with customer and are investigating the possibility that this product has not met our strict quality and safety standard,” the spokesperson said.
“We have not received any further complaints of a similar nature, however, customers can return any product they are not satisfied with for a full refund or replacement.”