Subj : Case closed: Likely source of rat's foot in garlic bread revealed
To   : All
From : News
Date : Wed Apr 24 2024 01:04 pm

A New Zealand Food Safety investigation has uncovered the most likely origin
of a rodent's foot found in garlic bread a 10-month-old baby was eating last
month.

The bread was bought from a Waikato supermarket before Shannon Bellman
noticed something "half hanging" out of her son's mouth while he was tucking
into lunch. "I took it out of his mouth straight away and saw it was a rat's
foot with fur still on it."

She said she was "absolutely horrified and beside myself".

Now, New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) thinks it knows where the foot came from.

A key piece of evidence? The foot was raw - whereas, the bread was cooked.

"We thoroughly investigated the complaint and can now rule out the
manufacturer, distributor, distribution centre and retailer as possible
sources of the foot," NZFS deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said
today.

This meant the home was the likely source of the foot - although Arbuckle
said the complaint was made in good faith.

"We understood there was a lot of interest in this case and stepped through
our investigation carefully so we could be certain of our findings," he said.

A statement from the NZFS explained: "A key consideration in the
investigation was the fact that while the garlic bread was cooked twice -
once as part of the manufacturing process and once in the home - the rat foot
was raw.

"This shows the foot must have been introduced to the food in the home after
it was cooked."

Forensic analysis of the bread and foot by AsureQuality confirmed the foot
was from a rat and was not cooked.

All stages in the garlic bread's production and sale were inspected and there
was no evidence of any issues, NZFS added.

This included the supermarket, who "only added a label to the outside of the
product".

"The vast majority of food businesses in New Zealand strive to produce safe
food and have in place programmes to ensure this."

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