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A Hastings woman says she is contemplating becoming a vegan after ooze from unremoved innards seeped into her “staple” cooked chicken dinner.
A spokesperson from the store that sold her the chicken says the incident may be a one-off, having not received any other complaints, and the supplier, Tegel Foods, says a recall is unnecessary.
On Tuesday Saili Tuilaepa was not in the mood for cooking, so she decided to pop to Hastings Pak’nSave and buy an extra large cooked chicken, buns and coleslaw.
She took the meal home and got her husband to shred the roast chicken meat, and as he did so she took a piece to eat.
Tuilaepa said there was no indication it was a “bad chicken” until she got a taste of shredded breast meat.
Upon further bites and confusion around the saltier-than-usual taste, she gave some to her puppy, who she said would usually eat everything, but not even the dog was interested in eating it.
Saili Tuilaepa said she would think twice about buying a whole chicken from now on. Photo / Saili Tuilaepa
Tuilaepa said by then her children had started to eat their dinner, with sauces and coleslaw masking the taste of the meat in their buns.
Still unsure of the taste, Tuilaepa’s husband broke into the chest cavity of the bird.
“We saw everything – the guts and the intestines were at the forefront.”
She suspected her husband had pierced the intestines with the fork and things were “oozing out of it”.
Tuilaepa said the indescribable smell left the family disgusted and not wanting to eat any more. The children ate cereal for dinner instead.
She decided that night to return the chicken to Pak’nSave about an hour after it was purchased, with it sealed inside two bags and a container.
When she took the chicken out of the container to show the customer service employee, the smell leaked from the sealed bag, which she claimed made the employee gag.
Despite receiving a refund from Pak’nSave, Tuilaepa said the incident had put her off meat, and she was exploring the options of becoming a vegan.
“There is no way I will buy a whole chicken again.”
A Foodstuffs spokesperson said the company was committed to maintaining the highest safety standards of all poultry products.
“Chickens are supplied to us with the entrails removed, but that didn’t happen in this case. We don’t want it to happen again and have informed the supplier of the situation.”
Tegel Foods’ general manager of sustainability and communications, Angela Irwin, confirmed that the company supplied the chicken for Pak’nSave cooked chickens.
“We have not received any similar complaints or reports regarding chickens with internal organs still inside.”
Irwin said Tegel Foods operates under a risk management plan, which is regularly audited by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
“We have conducted a thorough review and found no other issues with this product or any similar products. This appears to be an isolated, one-off occurrence.”
She said there was no indication that a recall was necessary and Tegel remained committed to providing safe and high-quality products to all customers.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
