THERE is probably no other ingredient in the kitchen as versatile as a loaf of bread. When hunger pangs kick in, a slice of bread is most often a favourite choice for a quick indulgence.

Just pop it into a toaster, slather it with herbed butter and it's done.

But one customer got the shock of her life recently after discovering a rat in a loaf of bread that she had purchased.

Sharing a video of the bread packet as proof, Nombulelo Mkumla revealed her unpleasant experience on Facebook.

She wrote: "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.

“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 noted that she went to Avonmore Spar in Durban, where she brought the bread and they advised her to lay a complaint with their supplier directly.

“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.

Mkumla said the apology made her angrier.

“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.

Since the time of publication, the post has garnered over 2,000 shares and over 1,000 comments. People in the comments were livid over the incident.

One user wrote: “The apology was enough but getting to know it all from baking to being a doctor is more disgusting. Rats are very poisonous.”

A second user wrote: “Ow my God!!!! This is disguising and totally unacceptable

“I’m so sorry sis, that apology on its own makes me sick! SASKO you have some explaining to do and owe Nombulelo a proper apology.”

A third commented: “Not even a sorry can fix this.”

Cornel Vermeulen, the General manager of bakeries at PepsiCo South Africa, said: “We are aware of an isolated incident in KZN where a consumer purchased a loaf of SASKO Low GI Seeded Whole Wheat Brown bread that did not meet the stringent quality standards we set out for our products.

“The consumer returned the loaf of bread to the store after she discovered that it had been contaminated by a foreign object (which was later confirmed to be a rodent).”

Vermeulen said as part of their commitment to maintaining the highest standards of food safety they undertook the following:

Immediate action: We investigated all the factory retention samples, and records covering the few days around the sample batch in question, and found no discrepancies, so we are confident that this was an isolated incident.
Consumer communication: We have been in contact with the consumer to provide her with updates on our investigation. It has shown that this is an isolated incident, and we are disappointed that she has had a poor experience with our product.

“We want to assure our consumers that we immediately launched a thorough investigation of the complaint.

“We are committed to providing safe, high-quality food products. We appreciate the understanding and support of our consumers during this time,” he concluded.

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