Aldi shopper's 'absolutely disgusting' find on ham creates stir online
A shopper has made a repulsive find in a pack of ham purchased from Aldi.
On a slice of ham inside a Berg branded pack of meat, the customer encountered prominent white spots across nearly the entire surface.
Sharing photos of her discovery to Facebook, she pointed out the packet of ham was still weeks out from its December 12 used by date.
The images sparked disgust in more than 400 people who commented on the Melbourne shopper’s post, with many pleading with her to not eat it.
There were a wide variety of theories from people speculating what the strange white dots could be, including suggestions they were warts or an animal’s eggs.
Someone said the dots made the meat look “infectious”, while another person said it looked “like a giant tongue”.
Some shoppers claimed they too had recently experienced the same issue with the same brand of meat.
The woman who shared the photos revealed the ham didn’t smell bad, but its appearance was enough to turn her completely off.
“I would definitely say there’s some bacteria culture growing there... I don’t believe it is fat. I wouldn’t eat it. I would take it back,” one person wrote in a comment.
“It looks like fat spots from some kind of condensation,” another said.
Others suggested the ham would still be fine to eat, arguing the source of the spots could be tyrosine crystal - free amino acids that can form during the meat curing process.
Despite the crystals being hard enough to provide a crunch sensation when bitten, they are actually safe to eat and pose no known health risk.
It’s not known if the Aldi shopper’s ham was coated in these crystals or they were caused by something else.
Yahoo News Australia has contacted Aldi for comment on the matter.
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