Can of mouldy peaches shocks mother

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A Nelson mother was “disgusted” to find a can peaches that her daughter
opened for dessert were so mouldy she could only recognise it as a green
mess.

Alyssa Heath-Pearce, 9, came running into the lounge to show her mum, Kayla
Heath, the sludgy green mess, that was meant to be a can of Watties peaches.
She had just opened up with the intention of having them on her ice cream.

“She just wanted to have a little extra with her icecream that night. She
was gobsmacked, it’s the last thing you expect,” says Kayla.

“Who the hell wants to come across that? I was stunned, I was absolutely
disgusted.”

Kayla’s initial thought was that maybe the peaches were older than she
thought so she went to check the expiry.

“The can was completely full, it’s not like they had leaked or anything.
There was a small dent which I though may have unsealed the can somehow but because the can was still completely sealed I fail to believe that. There
was no expiry date on it at all. I compared it to the other couple [of cans]
in the cupboard and the other ones had expires but this one didn’t. The fact
that it didn’t have a best before concerned me. You don’t know how old the
can is.”

Kayla says she purchased the peaches from Pak n’ Save Richmond “only a few
weeks before” and believes there is an issue with quality control somewhere
along the line.

“I just don’t understand how that would happen, there are no leaks or
anything, just one tiny dent. I was going to [go in and complain] but I
don’t think I can be bothered by the stress.”

Kayla says the experience is going to change the way she shops.

“I am definitely going to inspect every can I buy. Sometimes you get
something off the shelf and it will have a small dent in it, You don’t even
consider that it could be completely mouldy and rotten on the inside. You
just think that it’s not going to be as pretty looking as the rest. I
definitely wont be buying anything off the shelf that has any type of damage
on it.”

Heinz Watties spokesperson, Paul Hemsley, says he is sorry Kayla had a bad
experience with the product. He says it is very rare to find a can like
this.

“We have not seen the product or examined it, so we are very cautious about
speculating on the cause. We process hundreds of thousands of cans a year,
and on very rare occasions we find that the product has been spoiled by air
entering the can through a faulty seal or damage to the can.”

Pak n’ Save Richmond declined to comment.