Amy Oler was eating some Great Value Raisin Bran bought at a Walmart in Okotoks, Alta. when she said she bit into a small piece of metal.
“I pulled it out because it was hard and it didn’t hurt me. You can see, quite clearly, it’s the same size as a piece of raisin.”
Oler called the Walmart number on the box and was told to return the cereal for a credit. She was concerned they didn’t want to see the metal or even pull the product from the stores.
She said it took several phone calls and emails to Walmart Canada before they offered to pick it up and investigate.
“I wasn’t concerned about losing my money,” Oler said. “My concern was I have kids and it seriously could have hurt somebody. It just upset me because it took so long for them to take me seriously on a matter that is so small.”
In a statement, Walmart said the safety of its customers is a “top priority and we take the issue of product safety very seriously.”
“We have been in contact with our customer and our product safety team is in the process of conducting an investigation into this matter.”
Canadian Food Safety group food safety instructor Domenic Pedulla said the discovery of foreign objects in packaged foods isn’t common. He said when it does happen, the first call should be to the manufacturer.
“Whoever made that food…as much as it’s going to hurt them, they really need to know so that it doesn’t happen again,” Pedulla said. “I think a lot goes unreported and for people out there: report it. Tell the manufacturer. When something is wrong, they need to know and they need to fix it.”
He said if their response isn’t good enough, report it to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency here.
In 2016, the CFIA issued 60 recalls involving foreign materials in food in Canada. Among the items found were metal, plastic, glass, wood, rubber, bone pieces and insects.
Oler is waiting for a response from Walmart and said she hopes it was an isolated incident.