‘My baby bit into a worm from a Purity puree pack’

*This story has been update to add official comment from Tyger Brands.

A Mitchells Plain mother says she had an arrige experience with Purity Fruit Puree pouches after feeding her seven-month-old baby a “worm”.

Malika Petersen, 32, from Eastridge says she bought the banana-flavoured baby food from Pick n Pay on August 25.

“I buy seven packets every week, my baby is at that age where he is starting to eat and I thought it was a piece of banana because that is how it came out of the straw,” she said.

“I’m not sure if the worm curled itself up as it must have been full of the puree, so I did not notice it was a worm.”

“When my son ate the worm, it got swollen in his mouth and it was this big thing, the yellow slime came out of his mouth. That was when I noticed something was not right, so I scooped it out of his mouth and it was broken in three pieces.

“I am really disappointed and disgusted because it was something that my child ate, not something you put on your skin.”

Malika says she threw the rest of the puree away and contacted Tiger Brands the same day, and they gave her a R50 Purity voucher.

“The next day my baby got sick, he was vomiting and had a runny stomach. I was unsure if it was the Purity or because he is teething.

“A week later they sent a courier to collect the worm which had to sit in my freezer. I had to continuously phone them. They said they will phone to find out how my baby is doing but they did not,” the ma added.

Tiger Brands said in a statement they are aware of the consumer’s concerns.

“We have initiated our consumer complaint-handling protocol which includes collecting a sample of the product from the consumer and evaluating it,” the statement reads.

“Providing safe and quality products is an absolute priority for Tiger Brands.

“Purity Products are produced under stringent quality standards and hot-filled into packaging before being sealed to maintain freshness and integrity.

“Before leaving the factory, Purity pouches are sterilised through heat treatment to ensure they are commercially sterile and remain safe for consumption during the product's shelf life.

“In instances where the pouch seal is broken - either by the cap being twisted open; the flexible pouch material being punctured through handling or the spout being damaged - air and external contaminants that are not present in the product, such as mould, can enter the pouch.

“This may result in mould growth or spoilage which could lead to bad odours and the appearance of foreign particles in the product.”

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