Insects and teeth found in food

FOOD CONTAMINATED with teeth, zips and washers were among thousands of complaints dealt with by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland last year.

Its annual report for 2010 says nearly 11,000 queries and complaints were handled by its advice line. One in four related to consumers reporting issues concerning food and food establishments, up over 7 per cent on the previous year.

The authority said specific contamination incidents included a live beetle found in a bag of Caesar salad; a moth in a Madeira cake; a washer ring in a bowl of soup; and a zip in a black pudding.

Needles, safety pins, stones and both live and dead insects were also reported to have been found in food. Some 2,126 complaints ranged from reports of unfit food, low hygiene standards, inaccurate labelling information and suspected food poisoning.

The FSAI said all complaints were followed up and investigated.