A rat foot reportedly found in a pack of garlic bread was not introduced in the commercial food supply chain, a New Zealand Food Safety investigation has concluded.
The investigation was launched after a Waikato mum claimed she found the rat foot in her 10-month-old son's mouth while he was eating the garlic bread that was bought from the supermarket.
NZ Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said the complaint was thoroughly investigated.
"[We] can now rule out the manufacturer, distributor, distribution centre and retailer as possible sources of the foot," Arbuckle said.
While this left the home as the likely source of the rat's foot, the complainant had raised the issue in good faith, he said.
"We are grateful for any complaints and information we receive from the public and use them as the starting point for further enquiries.
"We are always guided by the evidence as food safety is too important to make assumptions.
"We understood there was a lot of interest in this case and stepped through our investigation carefully so we could be certain of our findings."
Arbuckle said one of the key considerations during the investigation was the fact that the foot was raw despite the garlic bread being cooked twice - both during manufacturing and in the home.
The investigation also looked at all the stages in the garlic bread's production and found:
- The garlic bread manufacturer, French Bakery, had good food safety procedures in place and had no evidence of rodent activity over the past two years.
- The transportation and storage facility, Big Chill and Foodstuffs North Island Distribution Centre, had good procedures in place.
- All pallets containing the product are plastic-wrapped.
- There was no evidence of damage to wrapped product and a review of CCTV footage revealed no suspicious activity while the order was being packed.
- The retailer, Pak'n'Save Te Awamutu, only added a label to the outside of the product. There was no evidence of any issues related to the complaint.
- The complainant confirmed the bread was cooked in the home before serving.
A forensic analysis of the bread and foot by AsureQuality confirmed it was from a rat and wasn't cooked.
Arbuckle said where food businesses were found to cause food contamination, they would be held accountable and required to put in place corrective actions.
"The vast majority of food businesses in New Zealand strive to produce safe food and have in place programmes to ensure this."
