Aussie mum's urgent warning after gross find inside juice popper

"He'd already taken a few little sips," the Queensland mum told Kidspot, before detailing the horrifying find. 

An Aussie mum's day took an unexpected turn when her own mother, babysitting her five-year-old grandson, discovered mysterious black clumps floating inside a juice popper the boy was drinking.

"I was at an appointment with my daughter, so my mum was watching my son. He had asked for a popper and had put the straw in and taken a few little sips,"  the Queensland mum, Erin, tells Kidspot. 

He then asked for it to be put in a cup - a request that, in hindsight, may have helped him avoid potential health consequences.

Erin continues, "Mum cut the corner of the spout and poured it into the cup and black bits came out.

"She poured the rest of the liquid out and saw there was more in the container that was too large to fit through the hole."

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"There were just big pieces of black"

"When I arrived about an hour later, she told me what happened and said I needed to see it and see if I could tell what it was," she recalls, "so I used my phone light to check in the hole and saw the big clumps she was talking about."

After cutting open the Prima popper, she saw what appeared to be mould sitting at the bottom of the carton. 

"There were just big pieces of black," she says, adding that it had the texture of a "water-logged sultana" when she rubbed it together. 

The discovery understandably left her shocked and "disgusted."

An FYI to other parents

So, she took to a local Facebook group to warn other parents. "Just a FYI," she wrote. "Purchased this from Woolworths recently and it was within its use-by date."

She then shared photos and a video of the unsettling find.

The reaction in the comments was mixed, with theories ranging from manufacturing residue to accidental contamination.

"A lady commented on the post and mentioned her father works in manufacturing and it is most likely sediment from the bottom of the tank. Another said she was processing refunds for a store and usually what happens is night fill will accidentally slice the carton with the knife on opening and it in turn grows mould," she explains.

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"Always cut them open prior and pour them out"

Despite the feedback and some outright rude comments doubting her story, Erin's message remains clear: "I just worry about kids getting sick from drinking whatever the hell it is.

"Why would I make it up for attention? It's not like I'm going to get rich and famous from a food contamination issue."

And by the looks of Woolworths' response, she definitely won't be.

"They sent me a $10 voucher," she says, "but I don't really want it."

"What I would have preferred is knowing they were going to look into it further and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Meanwhile, Erin reported the issue to QLD Health and also reached out to Bega, who makes Prima poppers but hasn't heard back from them. 

"We won't be buying Primas again, but parents should know to always cut poppers open prior and pour them out just in case," she concludes. 

Woolworths and Bega respond

A Woolworths spokesperson told Kidspot, "We take food safety seriously, and are disappointed to see this customer's report.

"We've passed this on to our supplier to look into further. If customers ever have concerns with food quality or safety, we encourage them to return the product in its packaging to their local store for a full refund and to lodge a formal report."

A Bega Group spokesperson said, "As soon as we were made aware of this, we commenced working with our broader team to conduct a thorough investigation which is still underway. The safety of our consumers and quality of our product is, as always, the top priority."

Originally published as Aussie mum's urgent warning after gross find inside juice popper