Woman reveals concerning error on Woolworths tuna label
A Sydney woman is furious claiming her Woolworths tinned tuna had the wrong label and could have led to disastrous consequences.
The woman posted a picture on Facebook of Woolworths lemon and pepper tuna on Tuesday.
“I’m just writing on here to let you know that you have falsely labeled your tuna much to my disappointment as I am allergic to tomato and now can’t eat this,” she wrote.
In a response to the woman, Woolworths said it had been reported to the product team.
“We hope you're okay?” Woolies wrote.
“Have you sought medical attention? We definitely understand your concerns about the labelling so we've reported this with our product team to ensure this being looked into further.”
According to Food Standards Australia and New Zealand, tomatoes aren’t a declarable allergen in Australia unlike peanuts, soy, tree nuts, eggs, shellfish and other products.
Any of the listed declarable allergens have to be labelled on products in Australia to warn people who might be allergic to them that they might be present in what they’re about to consume - for example, a chocolate bar’s label might say it contains traces of peanuts.
The woman doesn’t seem to be alone in having mislabelled tuna though.
On July 3, a woman also posted her Woolies tuna, also lemon and pepper flavoured, had the wrong product inside.
She wrote on Facebook she purchased hers from Loganholme in South East Queensland.
“We opened the can and it’s tomato and onion flavoured?” she wrote.
“What’s going on? My mum can’t eat tomato and lucky we checked before we gave it to her.”
At the time, Woolies said it was “extremely concerned about this” and would be investigating it.
A Woolworths spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the supermarket is aware of the labelling error.
“A small number of cans were incorrectly labelled as Lemon & Pepper rather than Tomato,” the spokesperson said.
“Tomato is not a declarable allergen in Australia, so there is no need for a recall.
“The batch has sold through and all stock in our stores will now have the correct label.”
The spokesperson added the supermarket is following up with the supply partner and apologised to customers “for the inconvenience”.
“If ever our customers find their canned tuna incorrectly labelled, we’d encourage them to contact their local store to replace or refund the product,” they said.
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