HORROR OF NEEDLES HIDDEN IN SHOP VEG
Police fear supermarket food was sabotaged
POLICE are investigating after needles were found hidden in supermarket green beans.
The discovery sparked fears the vegetables could have been deliberately sabotaged.
Morrisons has issued a nationwide recall of packets of trimmed beans after two customers living 200 miles apart said they found sharp items.
One woman said she discovered them in untrimmed green beans bought in Glasgow.
The other shopper claimed she found 12 ‘needles’ in a packet of trimmed beans bought in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
In both cases the needles were inside individual beans – and were only found after either being chopped up or bitten into.
Two police forces are looking into the claims to establish if there was any ‘malicious intent’ somewhere in
the Morrisons supply chain. The supermarket has recalled the 170g packets of its own brand Market Street trimmed beans, priced £1. The recall affects bags with ‘display until’ dates of April 22, April 23 and April 24. They are thought to have been grown in Kenya.
Sarah Parry, a mother of three from Oldham, said she was horrified when she discovered a needle while eating one of the beans on Tuesday.
The 41-year-old said: ‘I felt something sharp in my mouth and it had actually got stuck in my gum. I pulled it out and it was a needle. I honestly could not believe it. It was right in the centre of the green bean. No one would ever have been able to tell it was there.’
Mrs Parry, who has a four-year-old daughter and two sons, 13, and 22, contacted the supermarket, which asked her to return the beans. She did so on Wednesday and was offered a £5 gift card for the inconvenience.
Mrs Parry, a hospital catering assistant, added: ‘I didn’t want a £5 gift card, I just want to know what it is and how it got there.
‘It was stuck right into my gum so I’m going to have to go and get checked out. My immune system isn’t very strong as I have just got over breast cancer.
‘It seems so suspicious. I am just thankful that it happened to me and not one of my children. They could have swallowed it and who knows what could have happened.’
She added: ‘The needle was around two-and-a-half inches and a bit thicker than a sewing needle.
‘Because I threw the rest away, I wouldn’t know if there were others but they could have been in the rest of the pack.’
She has since given a statement to police.
Another customer, Margaret Lynch, said she found 12 metal pins when she cut into green beans last Saturday.
She had bought them from a Morrisons in Glasgow, although they do not appear to be the same trimmed variety which is subject to the recall.
Hospital worker Mrs Lynch, 49, posted an image of the beans on Facebook and complained to Morrisons, saying she was ‘totally shocked and disgusted’.
She said: ‘I’ve had bugs in salad and that’s more acceptable because it’s natural, but I won’t be buying green beans again.
‘If I hadn’t seen them when I was cutting off the ends, I could have injured my mouth.
‘I luckily noticed something was wrong when I looked at them. The beans were on a stalk, so I can’t imagine this was done by another customer. I think it’s from the growers because they were hidden right inside.
‘When I went to the shop on Sunday they had taken them all off the shelves and there were no
‘It was stuck right into my gum’
green beans at all. They’ve basically told me it’s a major investigation. Some poor child or pensioner could have been seriously injured.’
A Morrisons spokesman said: ‘We have been made aware of two incidents involving metal being found in two packets of green beans.
‘The health and safety of our customers is our top priority, so as a precaution we are recalling the products and are continuing with our investigation.
‘The relevant authorities have been informed and we are also talking to the two customers.’
Asked if deliberate sabotage was a line of inquiry, a spokesman said this was ‘a question for the police to answer’.
The Food Standards Agency issued a product recall warning and urged customers with Morrisons trimmed beans, 170g, dated from April 22-24 to return them to the store.
The product recall notice states: ‘As a precautionary measure we are recalling the above product as there is a very small risk that some packs may contain pieces of metal.
‘We are asking all customers who have bought these “display until” dates of this product not to consume them and to return them to their nearest Morrisons store, where they can receive a full refund.’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘We are aware of an incident in Glasgow and are working with the relevant agencies in the UK to investigate the matter.’
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: ‘We have been made aware of the reports and we are supporting Morrisons while they investigate to establish what has happened and if there was any malicious intent’.