An ALDI shopper is under fire after claiming he found a “shotgun bullet” in the corned beef he bought at a local store.
A Canberra mother has revealed on her popular Facebook page how she discovered a “metal ball” inside the meat while eating it.
She said the incident made her worried that she may have unknowingly ingested a foreign object, so she made an appointment for a stomach x-ray.
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However, the ALDI shopper’s post sparked a furious response from many Facebook users, who claimed the small black balls looked like peppercorns and insisted that “livestock was not slaughtered with a shotgun.”
An ALDI Australia spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au that the supermarket was “investigating the possibility that this product may not meet our rigorous quality and safety standards” (see full text below) reference).
The woman said in the post that she had intended to feed the toddler corned beef before making the discovery.
“Today I cooked a whole piece of meat in a pressure cooker that I bought at ALDI in Gungarhin. I was in a hurry so I only added garlic and salt,” she wrote on the Aldi Mums Facebook page.
“When I was tasting it right out of the pot, I felt something hard and realized it was a metal ball.
“I checked the pot thoroughly and it wasn’t part of the pot. Then I picked up another part myself and realized there was one more thing that wasn’t chewing, so I took it out and When I looked, there was a ball between them.
“Can I complain to Aldi?” Has it happened to you too? I was planning on giving the meat to my 2 year old daughter, but now I’m scared. I think I should throw it away. ”
She later added: “Latest news: There was a shotgun bullet in the cow’s meat! It has abs! [x-ray] For tomorrow, see if you ate something before you knew it. There’s a lot more in the meat.
“Be careful, I will go to ALDI tomorrow and ask them to not only refund the price of the meat ($14), but at least the price of the exam and GP.”
The post sparked a huge response from hundreds of ALDI shoppers, many of whom disputed her claims.
Many suggested the small black balls were actually peppercorns, prompting mothers to protect themselves.
“It’s definitely a metal ball, not a pepper,” she wrote.
Another said: “That’s not a peppercorn!” It’s completely round and the other half is covered with flesh. You can definitely see things that shouldn’t be there. ”
Additionally, many argued that it was unlikely that livestock would be killed with a shotgun.
“Isn’t the cow shot with a power head instead of a bullet?” said one person.
Another said, “Cows are not shot with a shotgun, they have a metal rod stuck in the brain.Farmers don’t even use shotguns, they use guns that put one bullet into the brain. It’s very strange.”
A third said: “You’re lucky to kill a cow with a pellet that big.”
Another added: Some people don’t know anything, but they are rarely killed with shotguns.
“Some animals are killed this way, but it’s not routinely killed in slaughterhouses. Private kill yes. If the risk is too great, don’t do it.”
However, others agreed that the foreign objects “definitely” appeared to be shotgun bullets.
“I worked in a slaughterhouse and part of my job was to find foreign objects in the meat. It was definitely a shotgun bullet,” said one person.
Another said, “Looks like a shotgun bullet to me.”
A third added: “My husband said it was definitely a shotgun shell.”
Some suggested that the cow in question may have been shot long before being killed at the slaughterhouse, leading to this irregular discovery.
“Instead of being slaughtered with a shotgun, someone would have shot him beforehand and the bullet would have lodged in his muscles and his skin would have healed. That’s my guess anyway,” one person replied. Ta.
Another said: “Poor guy, someone must have shot nearby on the farm, but they caught a few shots!” You’ll never know where they came from! ”
A third person said: “This is a pellet. Perhaps the cow was shot at some point and it just healed unnoticed and got embedded in the meat.”
“If you take the pellets and packaging back to Aldi, we can send them to the manufacturer.”
Many agreed that further research was needed.
“Take it to your local health inspector and have the object inspected. If it’s a shotgun bullet, this is a very serious problem,” one person wrote. “Realistically, it shouldn’t be possible because there are metal detectors in processing plants.”
Another said: “I think you should tell Aldi!” There could be other contaminated mince in there as well. This stuff should be recalled! ”
ALDI responds
A spokesperson for ALDI Australia told 7NEWS.com.au it had not received any similar complaints.
“We are in direct contact with the customer to investigate the possibility that this product may not meet our rigorous quality and safety standards,” the spokesperson said.
“While we have not received any further complaints of a similar nature, we will return any product you are unsatisfied with for a full refund or replacement.”