Woolworths has launched an investigation after a shopper was shocked to discover an odd and possibly “highly toxic” find in a salad packet.
The customer said they were alarmed to find the spiky “barbed” leaf in a bag of Woolworths brand baby spinach leaves, sharing images of the anomaly on Reddit.
The shopper revealed they had already eaten most of their meal before discovering the spiky leaf on their plate and was worried they may have consumed some.
The concerned customer wrote: “Anyone can identify this barbed leaf I bought from Woolworths’ baby spinach packet?”
Many commenters agreed the leaf was from a plant in the Solanum family (commonly known as yellow fruit nightshade), saying that some varieties can be poisonous to humans.
“I suspect it’s Solanum Prinophyllum or one of the various Solanum varieties,” one well-informed Twitter user wrote.
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“Solanum Prinophyllum is native Australian and found on the east coast. Pretty common and grows in disturbed soils. The leaf shape can look a bit like rocket, so easy to miss if it’s growing in amongst rocket. Likely a plant grew in whenever the rocket was farmed and a bit was harvested accidentally.
“Apparently it’s poisonous to cats but generally not especially problematic for humans. Certain varieties have edible berries. Some varieties can be quite poisonous to people though.”
In response to the find, Woolworths told PerthNow the company is looking into the incident.
“We take food quality and safety very seriously and are disappointed to see this customer’s report.
“We’ve passed this on to our supply partners to look into further and haven’t received similar reports.
“If our customers are ever concerned with the quality of our products, we encourage them to contact their local store for a replacement and refund.”
The find comes just weeks after a nationwide spinach recall.
Riviera Farms, in Victoria says thornapple, also known as jimsonweed, became mixed in with its crop.
Almost 200 people reported symptoms after eating the farm’s baby spinach, including a child in Queensland who was admitted to hospital.
Costco, Woolworths, Coles and Aldi stripped Riviera Farm’s products from their shelves and a recall was issued.
Australians who consumed the products were told to watch out for symptoms including delirium or confusion, hallucinations, dilated pupils, rapid heartbeat, flushed face, blurred vision and dry mouth and skin.
This content was originally published here.
