An Auckland couple was horrified to discover what seemed to be a baked cockroach in the food they'd just given their baby.
Earlier this week, Jacqueline Danish and Dan Ali from Te Atatu South bought their 11-month-old daughter her favourite supermarket treat - bite-sized zesty lemon nut and seed snacks from Alison's Pantry.
They'd bought the same product many times before from Pak'nSave on Lincoln Rd.
Ms Danish says she was surprised to see that the snacks were being sold in separate plastic pottles rather than in bulk form at the pick 'n' mix stand like usual, but other than that everything seemed normal.
At about 11am on Thursday she gave her daughter some of the snacks, but it wasn't long before the child seemed to become distressed.
"She was kicking her legs in the air like babies do when they have a tummy ache," Ms Danish told Newshub.
"She kept crying uncontrollably."
Becoming concerned, Ms Danish and her husband went through the only food their daughter had eaten that day - the nut and seed snacks.
When they tipped the food out onto a plate to have a proper look, they were revolted to find what looked like a cockroach that had been coated in seeds and baked along with the snacks.
"It was hidden right inside the centre of the food and it was the same colour so it was sort of camouflaged," says Ms Danish as to why she hadn't spotted the insect when she gave her daughter the food in the days prior.
The couple immediately phoned for medical attention, but were unable to see a nurse until later in the afternoon.
Ms Danish says it's "too much of a coincidence" that her daughter happened to become sick that day, and believes the contaminated food is to blame.
"I'm shocked and disgusted. It's very upsetting."
She says she's especially upset because her daughter is too young to tell her what was wrong - she and her husband had to figure out the problem for themselves.
"I'm more worried about her, she's so small. I want this to never happen again to anyone, young or old. It's just bad."
Pak'nSave told Newshub that they had not received any complaints about food contamination, although the supermarket's official Facebook page had responded privately to a comment Mr Ali posted about the incident.
Pak'nSave advised the couple to fill in a customer complaint form and bring the product into the store so that a formal investigation can begin.
They said their nuts, seeds and dried goods are supplied by Prolife, who also decides how products are displayed in store.
Newshub.
