A Knowsley man got more than he bargained for when he bit into a mini pepperoni pizza - and found a 1cm piece of plastic baked into the crust.
Tom Higham, 48, at first thought the piece of black plastic was a bone when he dug into the small Chicago Town deep dish pepperoni pizza he had purchased from his local Farmfoods on Friday, April 28.
He said: "I was working from home and decided to have an afternoon snack of a Chicago Town pizza, and I found this massive bit of plastic in it. I don't want to be graphic, but I spat it out, and it looks like some part of a machine or something like that."
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"I think people should be aware because these are sold all the time and could even be given to children. It could be quite dangerous because it's over 1cm long - it's quite a big piece.
"I didn't see it because it was actually baked inside the pizza. I bit into it and hurt my tooth; I thought it might have been a bone. I picked it out and wondered what it was."
Tom, a motor trader, made a complaint to Chicago Town following his discovery of the mystery object.
A spokesman for the Dr Oetker Group, which owns Chicago Town in the UK, said: "We’re most concerned to learn of this unfortunate discovery. Chicago Town prides itself on our safety controls - a series of quality checks throughout the various stages of the pizza making process mean we’re confident in our production. We’re unable to give a more definite answer without being given the opportunity to inspect the product, packaging and item in question and are talking with the customer to arrange this."
Tom said: "I'm not going to eat this again, no chance - not after that. If you gave it to your child, they might well have choked to death. I'm just glad I didn't swallow it, because who knows what would have happened."
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