As per the officials in New Zealand, “Baby food packets were torn and damaged probably due to mice.”
Early inquiries also looked at the chance of a manufacturing error and involved Police to ensure the damage wasn’t brought about deliberately.
Supermarket chain Woolworths NZ recollected squeezable baby food packets from retailers across the nation following holes were seen in about 30 packets in its Auckland and Napier stores.
The individual packets of child foods with harmed bundling were found across six grocery stores in Auckland, and one in Napier. Each of these spoiled items has been taken out from racks. Woolworths New Zealand has additionally checked all baby food products in their stores and dissemination centers across the nation to confirm that no harmed item is still on racks.
Investigations led to discovery of a mice pervasion at two of Woolworth NZ’s distribution sites in Auckland.
No illness associated with this infestation was reported by The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) but anyone having health problems were advised to seek medical help.
Gary Orr, New Zealand Food Safety director of compliance, stated- “It now looks likely that the damage was caused by these mice infestations. However, we continue to work to rule out any other probable issues in the supply chain. In the meantime we are working with Woolworths NZ to ensure corrective measures are taken so that this doesn’t happen again.”
Product is being removed from Countdown, FreshChoice and SuperValue stores throughout the country. All dates, batches and flavors of Smiling Tums, Natureland, and Only Organics brands sold at these supermarts are affected. None of these products were exported. Organics and Natureland are available in 120-gram or 170-gram pouches. Smiling Tums is sold in a 120-gram packet.
Consumers having any of the infected items should either throw it out or return it to retail stores, Orr advised.
He also announced that- “Mice must be kept away from food items because they can contaminate the food and packaging with harmful microbes present in their saliva, urine and droppings. Any food contamination is serious, but for babies it can be even more dangerous, so we ask that parents check every squeezable baby food packet in their home to ensure it is not affected by the recall.”
As per Orr’s views, “Parents must regularly keep a check on infant food pouches even if they are unaffected by the recall.”
He further added- “You can do this by giving the packet a light squeeze to observe any holes or other damage. Of course, any product with any damaged packaging should not be consumed. Damage to packaging does happen from time to time as part of the manufacturing and food distribution process.”
In the entire batch of damaged products found, the holes were prominent and could be seen easily even without squeezing, the officials declared.