Lifelong vegetarian 'physically sick after eating pizza covered in ham'

A vegetarian who had never eaten meat says she was physically sick after Domino’s allegedly delivered her the wrong pizza – which she claims was ‘smothered in ham’.

Shannon Rich, 22, says she and her partner Paul Davies, 22, ordered two vegetarian Roma pizzas – one with added mushrooms – for dinner on September 11 from Domino’s on Malpas Road in Newport, South Wales.

On the Domino’s website, the Roma pizza, which is part of the Italiano range, is said to include toppings of goat’s cheese, Roquito cherry peppers, red onions and rocket leaves on either a medium or large Italian-style pizza base.

When the pizzas arrived Shannon claims she was so hungry she tucked right in and ate two slices before discovering ham on her meal.

Domino’s said Shannon has been ‘reluctant to cooperate’ with their attempts to investigate her allegations.

“We ordered the pizzas and when they came they were literally smothered in ham,” University student Shannon said.

“We were hungry obviously when it arrived, and when I opened it I just bit into it – I never saw meat on the pizza before I ate it.

“I ate two slices and then I looked and saw there was meat on there.

“I asked my partner and said ‘oh my god is that meat?’ and he said ‘yeah’. Then he opened his again, he’d eaten some of his and there was meat on his too. It made me physically sick.

“It didn’t even smell like meat. I was hungry and just indulged in it – I ate two slices.

“I didn’t know it was on there. It was hidden and I don’t even know what meat tastes like.

“When I noticed, I ran to the toilet and tried making myself be sick to just try and get it up.

“My boyfriend just ate the two slices too, but he’s not as bothered as I obviously am because he’s not been veggie his whole life.

“It makes me feel ill even when I think about it.”

Shannon, who placed the order online, alleges that the delivery was taking longer than usual and says she rang the store to chase it, reiterating that they were two vegetarian pizzas.

Despite previously being a regular Domino’s customer, Shannon claims she has now been put off pizza for life.

The alleged ordeal has left Shannon so ‘paranoid’ she says she now checks every single thing she eats to make sure there’s no hidden meat in it.

• Aussie woman with one leg denied entry into iconic tourist attractions

• Eerie scenes as floods leave hundreds of fish scattered across road

• Hero cop drags driver from sinking bus in crocodile-infested waters

“It’s affected me now because I’m scared with food, I’m just constantly checking it,” she said.

“It has made me constantly paranoid. I won’t eat out now and I didn’t eat for a while after that as it just made me ill.”

After the shock, Shannon called the Domino’s store back to tell them there was meat on the pizza and claims they dismissed her allegation telling her that was what she had ordered.

Shannon then posted a picture of the pizza on social media to express just how upset she was with the situation.

The student claims Domino’s responded by offering her free pizza and that they would be sending an area manager to the store to investigate, but Shannon says she’ll never touch Domino’s pizza again.

“I told them multiple times they were veggie pizzas. Obviously it was on the order, and then when I rang them because they were late and I reiterated it.

“I rang back when I found meat on it and the lady who answered said the order came to them saying ‘with meat’ on – she didn’t seem too bothered at all.

“I double checked my order just in case I made that mistake but I hadn’t. It was supposed to be veggie and that was it.

“After I posted online, Domino’s said they were sorry that it happened and that it’s going to be investigated and that’s it really.

“I also can’t say now that I’ve not eaten meat my whole life, I don’t even feel like me anymore.”

Louise Butler, a spokesperson for Domino’s, said: “Upon receiving the allegation we immediately offered to collect the pizza to investigate, but Ms Rich was unfortunately reluctant to cooperate.

“We have also offered a goodwill refund on more than one occasion, though we’ve yet to hear from Ms Rich.”