Contamination inside a packet of rice

[Robbo 27]

Just opened a packet of microwavable rice, poured it over my curry and then saw a black fibrous mass inside the rice.

The product was Golden Sun golden Vegetable Rice manufactured by Lidl. I rang them and they really couldnt give a damn.

'We will tell Quality but call again if you havent had a response in 7 days'

[Rollin]

Looks burnt. Either way, bin in and carry on with life.

[anonymous-user]

I've had exactly that issue with a pouch of Tilda rice once, must be something about the way it's bagged, maybe a hole or whatever.

Avoid that brand and move on.

[Robbo 27]

Thanks for the advice chaps. This isnt the first time that this issue has been brought to Lidls attention, its been in the press when someone thought it was a dead mouse in their food.

I assume its mould and very possibly harmful, not really concerned for myself but its the sort of food that children may cook for themselves

[Pericoloso]

Take back to shop.
Ask for refund or replacement.

[anonymous-user]

Pericoloso said:

Take back to shop.
Ask for refund or replacement.

This is the correct answer if it matters to you. Phoning is pointless imo.

[Robbo 27]

garyhun said:

This is the correct answer if it matters to you. Phoning is pointless imo.

I dont even rate going back to the shop. a month ago I opened a bottle of water that I had bought from Morrisons, it was in a glass bottle. As I unscrewed the cap I saw shards of glass fall through the water, I took the cap off and the rim was jagged. I thought that if mine was bad then others in the same batch could also be faulty. Went into the shop, to the customer services desk, their response was.

"I suggest you write to the manufacturers and tell them of the problem, they are in Italy, next please."

They just didnt get that i was telling them of this issue for their benefit.

[anonymous-user]

Robbo 27 said:

garyhun said:

This is the correct answer if it matters to you. Phoning is pointless imo.

I dont even rate going back to the shop. a month ago I opened a bottle of water that I had bought from Morrisons, it was in a glass bottle. As I unscrewed the cap I saw shards of glass fall through the water, I took the cap off and the rim was jagged. I thought that if mine was bad then others in the same batch could also be faulty. Went into the shop, to the customer services desk, their response was.

"I suggest you write to the manufacturers and tell them of the problem, they are in Italy, next please."

They just didnt get that i was telling them of this issue for their benefit.

Wouldn’t happen at Waitrose

[Mojooo]

Environmental Health


If the food is contaminated what else is happening at the factory?

[21TonyK]

OP, was it a lump of congealed or burnt flavouring/colouring that didn't mix in with the batch at the factory?

IME complaints (2 or 3 over 30 years) to the store are a waste of time, head office or manufacturer.

[Robbo 27]

21TonyK said:

OP, was it a lump of congealed or burnt flavouring/colouring that didn't mix in with the batch at the factory?

IME complaints (2 or 3 over 30 years) to the store are a waste of time, head office or manufacturer.

Neither congealed nor burnt, the rice is black and there is also some fibrous matter mixed in.

I agree on the waste of time as I would hope that however sorry the store/manufacturer claims to be they dont take any remedial action to prevent it happening again.

It may be an old fashionned idea but that isnt being sorry,

[number2]

I opened up some OXO stock cubes to find them riddled with what looked like maggots.

Anyway, I thought Premier Foods (think it was them that owned the brand) might want to know as the cubes were in date and stored correctly.

I got in contact, sent them off to their lab, and a while later got what I thought was quite an arsey letter saying that they couldn't have left the factory like that due to their hygiene standards and time it takes for maggots to incubate etc.

Fair enough, I only thought they might like to know that somewhere down the line their product must have been contaminated. There's nothing I wanted out of the exchange.

[Robbo 27]

number2 said:

I opened up some OXO stock cubes to find them riddled with what looked like maggots.

Anyway, I thought Premier Foods (think it was them that owned the brand) might want to know as the cubes were in date and stored correctly.

I got in contact, sent them off to their lab, and a while later got what I thought was quite an arsey letter saying that they couldn't have left the factory like that due to their hygiene standards and time it takes for maggots to incubate etc.

Fair enough, I only thought they might like to know that somewhere down the line their product must have been contaminated. There's nothing I wanted out of the exchange.

That is exactly the reaction I am getting from Lidl, their behaviour is that they are trying to help me when it is their issue, they ahve been alerted to this problem in the past when their packet rice was found to have mould inside it, they just dont give a damn despite having absolute liability under the Food Act 1984.

[Jules Wood]

This is what I found in Golden Sun Mexican microwave rice from lidl. No joy from customer services.

[Xerstead]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm thinking dried/re-hydrated mushroom.

What does it taste like? :P

[LeadFarmer]

At the low price that they charge for their rice, I'd just bin it and forget it. I couldn't be bothered chasing a refund for just a few pence, not with all the money they have saved me over the years.

[Macneil]

OK so Lidl didn't fall over themselves and offer you free food for a week...what did they say? I'd expect them to ask you for some information from the pack and possibly send you a pre-paid envelope to return the product. The complaint will go to the manufacturer who will investigate and reply to Lidl. Lidl may or may not pass on the details to you. You're entitled to a refund immediately, and I'd be very surprised if you didn't get voucher or some other sort of goodwill later on after all your meal was ruined. In the real world of FMCG food this won't be an uncommon occurrence but it's unpleasant for the individual consumer. The complaints department is probably one person, and there will be an agreed level of complaints of certain types between Lidl and the manufacturer.

[Hoofy]

I wouldn't expect a refund but "That's awful, thanks for alerting us." is a suitable response rather than "It can't be true, we are wonderful."

[FredericRobinson]

Looks like stuff which has got caught on the side of the cooking vessel and burnt a bit to me.

[devnull]

I had similar with a tin of SMA baby formula. It smelt like vinegary vomit. Rang SMA, they immediately flung me 30 quid via PayPal and I had to send it back for tests. 6 weeks later they said it was fine, but it was pretty noticeable in comparison to other tins.