WATCH ABOVE: A Calgary man is claiming he was pricked by a needle as he bit down on a piece of bacon purchased from a family-run grocery store. As Tracy Nagai reports, Maple Leaf Foods is now leading an investigation.
CALGARY – Maple Leaf Foods is investigating after a Calgary man claimed he bit down on a sewing needle lodged in a piece of bacon he bought on the weekend.
Brent Hladun said he bought the Maple Leaf bacon package from Bownesian Grocer Bigway Foods in the city’s northwest on Saturday. He said he threw the bacon in the pan for dinner that night.
“I just pulled it out and asked my wife if she was trying to poison me.”
The Calgary father said he returned to the store on Sunday, where he was refunded the $5.
A manager at the Bownesian grocery store said they think the needle came from the plant because it was lodged in the bacon. They said there was no evidence the package had been tampered with.
Hladun said store staff told him to call Maple Leaf Foods because it must be their “problem.”
Maple Leaf Foods spokesperson Dave Bauer said a full investigation has been launched into the matter.
“We have metal detection in all of our meat facilities and in some cases, x-ray detection as well, to detect any foreign objects that may have the possibility of entering our products within our facilities,” said Bauer. “Our top priority is to understand if in fact this happened at a Maple Leaf facility.”
Hladun said he spoke to Maple Leaf Foods and plans to send them the needle. He said he was offered some coupons in return from the company.
“If we have an unsatisfied consumer, we do offer that consumer compensation,” said Bauer. “But when it comes to food safety we take that very seriously. So our top priority now is getting that package back from the consumer and making sure we continue our investigation as soon as possible.”
Hladun said he’s waiting to see how the situation will be handled, but is considering a lawsuit. He says he wants to know food is being properly checked, any tampered packages are removed from shelves and that people are made aware of safety issues.
“We bought three packs and that’s because we have children,” he said. “We just got lucky the pack we chose was the one with the needle, and not one that went to my kids.”
There have been no other complaints “to this matter” across Canada, according to Bauer.
READ MORE: Police investigate 2 new cases of potato tampering after nail and needle found
With files from Tracy Nagai
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