AN INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY
It’s the kind of discovery that makes you regret every bite. A landscaper from Toulouse had a very unpleasant experience on October 15, when he thought he was taking a well-earned lunch break. Looking for a quick meal, he bought a canned “American tuna salad” from an Aldi supermarket in Toulouse.
A TASTE OF FERMENTATION
After eating a few bites, something strange caught his attention: a taste of fermentation. Intrigued, he looked more closely at his plate and made an unappetizing discovery. “My attention was then drawn by a suspicious movement at the bottom of the jar,” he told La Dépêche du Midi.
The result of his discovery? A mishap that would be enough to ruin anyone’s appetite.
HE STARTED TO VOMITE
Before his eyes, two small white worms moved nonchalantly among the corn kernels, tuna and tomato. “I had to swallow it,” complained the disgusted man from Toulouse, who shared a video on social networks.
He added: “My very first reaction was to vomit, I vomited what I had eaten in the box.”
ALDI IS NOTIFIED
He and his colleague immediately stopped eating and rushed to Aldi to report the incident. “They wanted to refund me, but that’s not the issue.
No one knows in advance whether it was just in my box or in others. It’s worrying,” he said.
A WORRIED MAN
As soon as he left Aldi, Julien, in a panic, immediately dialed the emergency number. “I was afraid of getting sick, I needed explanations on the procedure to follow. I remembered the recent cases of botulism, it makes you panic,” he shared.
He recalls that five people were in intensive care in Tours last month, suspected of having contracted botulism after consuming a wild garlic pesto from the Ô Ptits Oignons brand.
AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY
This artisanal product, sold at several events in 2024, is now wanted throughout France. The authorities are calling for the destruction of the jars in circulation, while a legal and health investigation is underway to confirm the origin of the contamination, as our colleagues at Le Monde recall.
A PRODUCT STILL ON THE SHELF
Samu’s doctors, after reassuring Julien, simply advised him to monitor for any abnormal signs before going to the emergency room. Fortunately for him, he showed no symptoms. “I wonder how these worms survived in a sealed jar. Maybe at some point there was an air leak,” he asked. Three days later, La Dépêche du Midi visited the site and, to everyone’s surprise, the product was still on the shelves.
AN ISOLATED CASE ACCORDING TO THE BRAND When
questioned, the supermarket’s management confirmed that it had alerted its quality control teams. “Checks have been underway since Tuesday to establish whether this is an isolated case or a wider problem,” explained an Aldi spokesperson. However, the product was not withdrawn from the shelves because, according to the brand, “until we are certain of widespread contamination, removing the goods from our 1,300 stores would be premature.”
CONTAMINATED SHRIMP
Last June, Aldi launched a massive recall of frozen shrimp from the Golden Seafood brand, marketed between March 18 and June 5. These products were contaminated by the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus, better known as “carnivorous shrimp”. The distribution chain invited its customers to immediately destroy the shrimp in question or return them to the store, as indicated on the Rappel Conso website.
VIBRIO VULNIFICUS BACTERIA
This dangerous bacterium, capable of infecting wounds during the handling of products, can also cause serious gastrointestinal problems in healthy people and, in the most serious cases, cause septicemia in the most vulnerable subjects. The 400-gram trays affected by this recall were sold in several regions, in particular in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Île-de-France, Normandy and Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
A Toulouse man discovered live maggots in a salad he bought from Aldi, raising concerns about food safety.