MONTREAL — A West Island family got more than they bargained for when they tore into a Première Moisson baguette on Sunday night.
According to the family, who wishes to remain anonymous, two razor blades were found in a pre-cooked baguette purchased at a Pointe-Claire IGA store on Apr. 19.
“I bought the bread at around 4:40 p.m. and we sat down for our traditional Italian meal at around 7 o’clock,” the family matriarch told Global News.
“My husband, my daughter and I had each torn a piece off of the baguette.”
This was the moment the razor blade was discovered.
“At first we thought it was a joke,” she told Global News from her West Island home.
“Then we freaked out. You start thinking about everything that could have happened.”
No one from the family was injured, but the baguette was immediately returned to the store.
The family has filed a police report but said the experience has left them feeling angry and upset.
“To me, this is negligence.”
The bread, which is not baked on site, was sold under the “Première Moisson” banner.
Première Moisson is a Montreal-based artisanal bakery.
Last year, the supermarket chain, Metro purchased a majority stake in the company, saying at the time that it had plans to expand the brand throughout Quebec and eventually across Ontario.
IGA response
Jacques Drolet, the owner of the IGA grocery store in Pointe-Claire, told Global News that all the baguettes were immediately taken off store shelves Sunday night.
“We are working with the client on this matter,” Drolet said.
He referred all other questions to the head offices of Première Moisson and Sobeys.
A spokesperson from Sobeys told Global News that as the product was from Première Moisson, any details would need to come from them.
Première Moisson explains
Manon Kirouack, the head of communications for Première Moisson, told Global News that the situation was being taken very seriously.
“We’ve asked clients to return the bread,” she said.
“We’ve taken all of these baguettes off store shelves.”
Première Moisson said the incident was an isolated event.
“A piece of machinery broke during production of this particular bread,” Kirouack told Global.
According to the company, a baker at the Laval store where the bread was made did not notice the razor blades had stayed in the loaf.
Razor blades are used to score the uncooked bread loaves to allow air to escape during baking.
“This really is one baguette that is affected, not a lot of bread,” Kirouack said.
Production was temporarily halted as the bakery investigated the incident.
It was started again early Monday afternoon.
“We have four teams on the ground, going to our stores to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” Kirouack reiterated.
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