A horrified mum-of-two almost cut herself after finding a knife inside a box of Lidl's kids snacks.
Tracey Croft, 35, was shocked to find a three-inch long blade inside a box of dried mango Wind Ups which she had purchased for her two young sons.
The mum, a graphic designer, paid £1.79 for the snack from Lidl in Lincolnshire last month, but was left horrified to find a sharp pink-bladed knife next to the three packets of the snack.
Tracey, who usually lets her children, Kenneth, five, and Corey, three, help themselves to the fruity treats, admits she was lucky it wasn't her kids who opened the dangerous packet.
She said: “It was just luck that I opened the box rather than letting one of the boys do it.
“When I put my hand in the box I could feel something strange and saw there were only three of the snacks rather than five inside.
When she looked more closely, Tracey discovered a sharp knife labelled with the number 16, which had been taped to the handle.
"I could have cut my finger if I'd not been more careful. I shudder to think what would have happened if one of the boys had opened the box."
She added: “I couldn’t believe it. I was gobsmacked to find that in a kids’ product.
“It’s pretty scary that something like this could happen. I just want parents to be aware.”
Tracey tried to find a contact number or email address for Lidl but discovered she could only make contact using Facebook Messenger.
“It didn’t feel very professional,” she said.
After exchanging messages, Tracey has since received two letters from Lidl, accompanied by £15 in vouchers.
In one of the letters, dated July 20, Jago Heligan from the Lidl quality assurance team, said the supplier “does not use that type of cutting instrument anywhere in the facility” and that products pass through metal detectors.
He added: “We are therefore at a loss to explain how the incident has occurred.”
Tracey said: “I didn’t want to cause a fuss and I’m sure it will never happen again. But they just seem to be trying to passing it off as OK.
“If it was a child who had grabbed the knife it could have been awful. It has left me cautious about what I let the children open.”
A spokesperson for Lidl said: “We were extremely concerned to learn of this matter and can confirm that, as soon as we were notified, an investigation was immediately launched alongside our supplier.
“We can confirm that safety measures, including metal detection, are in place to prevent products from being compromised during production.
“This is not something that has previously occurred with any items that we sell and, through our investigations we can confirm that no other products were affected.
“We sincerely apologise to the customer for any distress caused and are grateful to them for bringing the matter to our attention.”
