A woman says she has been put off eating meat ever again after making a grim discovery inside her Sunday roast.
Mercedes Checkley, 25, described how she was physically sick and left shaken after she carved into her chicken only to find a foot inside it.
Mercedes bought a seasoned roast-in-the-bag chicken from Lidl for £3.99 last Sunday (6/2) to cook a meal for her and three friends.
But when it came time to serve dinner Mercedes and her friends were horrified to find an entire chicken foot hiding inside the animal’s body.
Mercedes said she was left vomiting and feeling faint at the sight and she has now vowed to ditch meat altogether following her Sunday dinner debacle.
Mercedes, who works as a team leader in a care home and lives in Bedford, said: "I honestly didn't even process it at first.
"My housemate heard me making a weird noise and she knew something was wrong.
"I think it was the shock. At first, it was disbelief and almost funny because I was shocked but then reality set in and I went very faint and was physically sick.
"I haven't eaten since and I'm now really put off meat.”
Mercedes had finished a shift at work and offered to cook her housemate Amy, her boyfriend and his best friend a roast for dinner.
Buying all of the ingredients at her local Lidl, she put the roast chicken straight into the oven still in the bag as per the instructions so didn't notice the foot until it was time to carve the meat.
Following the shock incident that almost made her faint in the kitchen, Mercedes has barely been able to eat and is now ditching meat altogether.
She said: "My body was shaky and I felt so faint that I couldn't stomach eating after being sick but had to force myself to eat a few mouthfuls as I hadn't eaten all day.
"I will absolutely never eat meat again. Every time I've been in my kitchen since it happened, I gag."
Mercedes has issued a formal complaint to Lidl who have contacted the supplier of the chicken and have told her to expect a response in the next 10 days.
A spokesperson for Lidl said: "We were very sorry to hear of this matter, as it is never our intention for a customer to be dissatisfied in any way.
"We work very closely with our suppliers to ensure that the fresh meat we offer is of the highest possible quality for our customers.
"We were therefore disappointed that our expected high standards have not been met on this occasion.
"Following contact with our customer services team, the matter was escalated to our Quality Assurance department and our supplier to be fully investigated.
"We are in direct contact with the customer and will update them on the final outcome."
