All people who have, or used to have babies within their home can tell you how important their little bundles of joy are, or were to them. For a parent, nothing is more precious than their newborn babies. Naturally, parents want to see their babies grow into strong and healthy adults. This is why the vast majority of parents choose their baby food carefully. Sadly, one Australian couple believed that they were purchasing a cake for their baby. The parents, Jacqueline Danish and Dan Ali from Te Atatu South, had no reason to believe that their baby had consumed a tainted zesty-lemon nut snack that they had purchased from their local supermarket. The snacks resemble small cakes that are small enough to be eaten by babies, and they are produced by a well known snack company known as Alison’s Pantry. The supermarket where the snack treats were purchased, Pak’nSave, is also reputable. Despite the lack of warning signs, the snack treats were, indeed, tainted. The contaminant in question was a cockroach.
Typically, finding insects within store-bought food products is no big deal, and it happens quite frequently. Although consumers who find insects within their food products may attempt a lawsuit over the discovery, the fact is that the FDA, and agencies that overlook food processing in other countries, legally allow food processing companies to avoid legal consequences over small amounts of insects or insect parts found within their food products. The reason for this is due to the fact that insects are nearly impossible to keep out of food items that are produced by large scale manufactures. However, full-bodied cockroaches may be an exception to this rule in some countries, as these insects carry disease causing pathogens, such as salmonella and E. Coli. Luckily for the couple and their baby, the cockroach that they discovered had been baked within the food item, which means that all pathogens present on the roach must have died during the baking process. Despite this relief, the parents are still disturbed by the fact that they had fed their baby several bites before they discovered the cockroach. Hopefully, the infant did not consume the roach, but in any case, she will be ok. The supermarket asked the couple to return the cake in order for an investigation to be conducted.
Would you be furious if you found a cockroach within baby food that you had been feeding your infant?