Bread is a daily staple in most South African households, whether to pack lunch, have breakfast, or even just have a snack.
Most of us don’t think twice when taking a slice or two from the packaging to make a meal.
Unfortunately, one woman was utterly disgusted when she made a shocking discovery in her loaf of bread.
Taking to Facebook, Nombulelo Mkumla shared a video in which she revealed that she had found the remains of a rodent in her loaf of bread.
The remains were pressed into the bread, and it seemed to have been baked with the bread.
To make matters worse, Mkumla revealed that she had already eaten some of the bread.
Watch here:
“I recently bought bread from Spar (Sasko bread) on August 27th. The same day, I made toast after work and ate the bread. The following day, after work, I did the same thing,” she wrote.
“Then, on the morning of August 31st, I took the bread out of the fridge to make toast and noticed something disgusting and scary. I took a picture and sent it to my friends, and one of them said, ‘Yi mpuku leyo tshomi’ (‘That’s a rat friend’).
“I was in denial and suggested it might be something else, but the rat scenario made sense – it’s possible the rat got into the bread at the factory, and no one noticed.”
Mkumla revealed that she went to the shop where she had purchased the bread, and they advised her to lay a complaint.
“I sent an email with a video and pictures of the bread to the supplier (Pioneer Foods) on Saturday, August 31st. Someone responded by email, acknowledging receipt of my email on Monday the 2nd of September, and filled out a form stating that the bread had mould.
“Why would I make a fuss over mould? I responded and gave my description of the complaint.
“Then, no one said anything until Friday afternoon, September 7th, when a guy from Sasko called me.
“‘Ma’am, I am… from Sasko. I am calling regarding your recent experience with our product. I sincerely apologise for what happened to you.
“‘It shouldn’t have happened, but you must understand that it gets hot where we bake our products, so things like this are bound to happen.
“‘Yes, I admit that your bread had a mouse or rat. We are putting measures in place to prevent this from happening again. Don’t worry; it won’t affect you health-wise’,” she added.
“Instead of saying sorry, they told me to understand that it gets hot where they bake, and that’s why there was a rat in my bread! Are you a professional doctor? I doubt I will ever eat Sasko products again. This experience has been traumatic and disgusting,” she added.
According to IOL, PepsiCo South Africa’s Cornel Vermeulen has taken note of the incident and identified it as an “isolated incident”.
He said the SASKO Low GI Seeded Whole Wheat brown bread loaf did not meet the company’s stringent standards.
Vermeulen also assured customers that an investigation has been launched.
Samples taken from that loaf’s batch have also revealed no further discrepancies.
