Mum’s shock after plastic tray on $7 lasagne meal melts into food

A Sydney woman was about to have dinner with her son when she discovered something unusual had happened to her Aldi lasagne dish.

A Sydney woman was shocked to discover her freshly made lasagne had more than she bargained for in it when its plastic tray melted, forcing her to toss half of the meal in the bin.

The Aldi shopper had purchased the $6.99 “oven-friendly” dish from her local store in Edgecliff on Sunday.

After popping it in the oven for about 45 minutes, the busy mum told news.com.au something didn’t look right.

“The tray it came in had melted,” she said.

“The instructions say 40 minutes, I went five minutes over.”

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An Aldi shopper was shocked to discover an ‘oven-safe’ lasagne had melted along with the tray it came in. Picture: Facebook/AldiMums

The edge of the tray had melted onto the food. Picture: Facebook/AldiMums

However, she said that wouldn’t have been enough to cause the entire tray to melt onto the food.

Despite being in a rush to feed her hungry six-year-old son who just returned from art class, the mum said she carefully read the label of the World Kitchen Beef Lasagne which stated it was “oven proof”.

“It said to remove the sleeve and plastic film, then place the meal onto a baking tray in centre on oven for up to 40 minutes,” she told news.com.au

Sharing images of the melted tray to the Facebook group Aldi Mums, some shoppers suggested the dish needed to be removed from the packaging and into an oven-safe tray – while others disagreed.

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The mum said followed the instructions which included removing the plastic film and cooking it at 180 degrees. However, she admitted going five minutes over the recommended cooking time. Picture: Facebook/AldiMums

She was forced to cut a square in the centre of the dish to eat after the tray melted on the sides. Picture: Facebook/AldiMums

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“If it’s fresh not frozen, can you just pop it into one of your own trays at home?” one woman said.

“I’ve never had an issue. You could be cooking too hot/long,” another said.

While a third shopper explained she had made the lasagne just last night without any issues.

and it came out “perfect”.

“Plastic still solid, didn't melt!”, she added.

News.com.au can confirm the product doesn’t need to be removed from the tray before it is placed in the oven.

However, the Sydney woman said if she were to purchase the product again, she will most definitely remove it from the plastic tray, while suggesting it should come in foil packaging instead.

The product’s instructions. Picture: Facebook/AldiMums

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“I do love Aldi, but I will never purchase this product again, or I will just transfer it onto a different tray,” she said.

“I was annoyed with myself for not putting it on a dish but it said was safe to do so.”

The mum chose to cut out a square piece in the centre of the lasagne to eat that wasn’t directly affected by the plastic.

“But in hindsight it probably created fumes in the oven,” she said.

After posting images of the melted tray online some shoppers weighed in on what could have caused it to melt. Picture: Facebook/AldiMums

An Aldi spokesperson has encouraged the mum to get in touch to further investigate the issue.

“We encourage the customer to contact Aldi directly through the Customer Service Team so we can promptly and thoroughly investigate any issues with this product,” the spokesperson told news.com.au

Another shopper from Western Australia also took to the post sharing a similar experience.

She made a formal complaint to the German discount store last year when her tray also melted.

“Had them plenty of times but this one time it melted,” she wrote.

Another woman complained to Aldi on its Facebook page last year after experiencing a similar situation. Picture: Facebook/AldiMums

Sharing a screenshot of the complaint she made on Aldi’s official Facebook page, the woman said she heated the frozen lasagne with the added alfoil according to the instructions, but the entire ovenproof tray melted.

“I would assume being an oven meal that the tray would withstand being in a gas oven to be heated from frozen,” she said in her complaint.

Aldi had responded to the woman at the time asking for more detail to further investigate the matter.

It is unknown if the issue was resolved.