Shop apologises after Aussie dad's 'gross' discovery in discount chocolate egg
The retailer confirmed the chocolate egg was in date despite the unexpected find inside.
A young child has been left "traumatised" after finding wriggling creatures inside the half-eaten chocolate egg her dad bought for her at a discount shop on Tuesday.
The chocolate was bought at Choice The Discount Store in Coomera — located in a shopping centre on Queensland's Gold Coast — for $2.50 and was given to his seven-year-old in the afternoon.
"Once home she was eating away and started screaming and crying," the shopper wrote online. "I asked what was wrong, she said she saw what looked like to be a caterpillar."
Upon closer inspection, the dad indeed spotted something "coming out of the chocolate from the inside". It is unknown exactly what the creatures were, but some online suggested the "disgusting" critters resembled some kind of larvae.
The customers returned to the store and were reimbursed, however, he urged the retailer to remove the product from the shelves which, to his understanding, had not occurred when he posted his complaint online once home.
Retailer responds to discovery of creatures inside chocolate
Yahoo News Australia understands the chocolate egg had an expiry date of May 2024, however staff decided to remove all products from the supplier from the store's shelves.
"We were made aware of the incident and immediately removed the item from the store and contacted the supplier," Choice The Discount Stores' Brand Manager Matthew Traynor told Yahoo News.
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The retailer is in communication with the supplier to understand how the creatures got inside the chocolate egg, however Mr Traynor refused to disclose who the supplier or manufacturer of the product are.
After the shopper posted his complaint online, many people were horrified by the "gross" discovery and a staff member chose to address the complaints in the comments.
"We sincerely apologise for this and we have taken all appropriate action at store level," the worker wrote.
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