Aldi investigating packaging mistake after customer complaint

Aldi is urgently investigating a complaint from a Melbourne mum who picked up an incorrectly packaged snack that could have serious consequences.

Aldi is urgently investigating claims surrounding an incorrectly labelled product that is part of a range of snack foods currently stocked in stores around Australia.

It comes after a Victorian mother lodged a formal complaint with the supermarket chain after she picked up a packet of Aldi brand “Natural Almonds”, which turned out to be filled with peanuts.

Aldi is urgently investigating claims that a range of almonds have been incorrectly filled with peanuts.

The woman, whose child has serious allergies, was allegedly shopping at a Melbourne Aldi when she purchased the packet of mislabelled peanuts, thinking they were almonds.

She took to Facebook, posting a photo of the package to an allergy group on Tuesday, and stated the “package states almond though it’s packed with peanuts”.

The packet was supposed to contain natural almonds, but was instead filled with peanuts. Picture: Facebook

Her post alerted other members to the packaging error, and there was outrage a potentially deadly error could slip through the cracks and concern about the consequences if an unsuspecting customer consumed the contents of the packet without checking first.

“That’s a recall right there,” one woman wrote.

The mother also included a photo of the back of the bag of “almonds”, which warns customers that the product could contain traces of peanuts and other tree nuts.

Despite this, one woman said: “This is so wrong.”

Another user simply commented: “Deadly.”

The packet stated that it should have contained almonds. Picture: Facebook

INVESTIGATING THE CLAIM

An Aldi Australia spokeswoman told news.com.au the company had been contacted by a customer “claiming to have purchased a mislabelled product”.

“As the product is labelled ‘almonds’ and it is claimed to contain peanuts, we are moving at pace to validate this claim,” the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman said they had immediately alerted the Food Authority and would keep them updated as their investigation progressed.

“Since receiving this customer contact, our immediate action has been the review of all products in our stores and the stock in our warehouses,” the spokeswoman explained.

“To date, we have not discovered another case.”

The company’s website does not currently feature the almonds on their list of officially recalled products.

The Aldi spokeswoman told news.com.au if any further evidence was uncovered to substantiate the woman’s claim “we will immediately conduct and publicise a voluntary recall of the product”.

Aldi's website doesn't include the almonds in their current list of product recalls. Picture: Aldi

NOT THE FIRST TIME

This isn’t the first time the Oh So Natural nut range has been investigated.

The supermarket issued a public recall of the Almond, Cashew and Cranberry Bites in March last year.

Aldi issued a recall for the same brand of nuts and snacks in March, 2018. Picture: Facebook

The recall applied to 13 different stores, across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, following the identification of the “presence of peanuts which are not declared in the allergen statement”.

“Consumers with a penalty allergy or intolerance may have a reaction if this product is consumed,” the recall stated.

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