Aldi customer disgusted by store's ‘disintegrating’ chicken
An Aldi shopper has shared her "gross" experience after purchasing chicken from the German retail giant.
Customer Georgia, who is 34 weeks pregnant, purchased a four-pack of chicken schnitzels from the fresh food aisle at the Aldi Keysborough store in Victoria on Thursday.
She cooked the four chicken schnitzels in the oven for 30 minutes that same day, but when she dished them up for dinner she received a disturbing surprise.
When she cut into the chicken schnitzel pieces she was shocked to see that the chicken inside had completely "disintegrated".
“I was confused when I saw it happen,” she told Yahoo News Australia.
“I’m 34 weeks pregnant and I cooked it to the recommended time on the pack which was 16 minutes, but it wasn’t cooked enough, so I cooked it to 30 minutes.
“And that’s what happened. It was only 14 minutes past the time on the pack.”
Georgia says it's the first time she’s ever purchased the product from Aldi and she says it will certainly be the last.
“It’s the first time I have purchased the schnitzels from Aldi but I have purchased red meat before with no issue,” she said.
“But this has absolutely put me off and won’t be getting meat from Aldi again.”
Hundreds of mums shocked by Aldi chicken
Sharing her experience on the Facebook page, Mums who Cook, Clean and Organise, she asked whether others had ever experienced anything similar.
“I bought some chicken snitz from Aldi today and I baked them in the oven for around 35 minutes and this is what happened, all the chicken disintegrated! Wtf!!! Is this normal?” She wrote alongside a picture of the cooked chicken.
Her post was quickly flooded with hundreds of comments from mums, some just as shocked as she was.
“I can't buy their meat. Every time I cook meat from there no one eats more than a few bites. It tastes weird and is almost always tuff. And the family have no idea where it comes from before my kitchen,” one mum commented.
“Oh gross, that is not good! Never buy crumbed processed… you never know what you’re getting,” commented another.
“Looks awful. Probably no chicken in the schnitzel. Take it back,” said a third.
Other mums commented saying they’d had a similar experience with chicken from other retailers.
“We feel your pain. This was two days ago cooked in the air fryer for 15min,” one mum wrote alongside a picture of her chicken-less schnitzels which she’d purchased from Coles.
Aldi responds to 'disintegrating chicken'
Yahoo News Australia contacted Aldi Australia for comment about their chicken schnitzel product, however, they declined to make a formal statement.
Aldi does however, encourage customers with a complaint to contact them directly via the Help page on their website. Aldi also offers customers 100 per cent refunds for any products with a fault.
Georgia says she's since contacted Adli to make a complaint about the unsafe food.
What to do if you purchase unsatisfactory foods
A Food Standards Australia and New Zealand spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that consumers should report any food they are not happy with to the appropriate authorities.
"Consumers that suspect there is a problem with a food product should not eat the food and report the issue to their relevant state, territory or local government food enforcement agency," the spokesperson said.
"These agencies have the appropriate legislative powers to investigate food complaints and if necessary, take action.
"Alternatively, consumers may wish to contact the company or manufacturer directly to raise their concerns and seek advice."
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