Aldi is recalling three flavors of its Fit and Active frozen dinners after an Omaha family found a steel clamp sealed in a sesame chicken frozen entree.
“If’ it’s from a machine. If it’s a practical joke. Well, it’s not really funny just because if there’s small pieces,” explained mom Karen KaderKader purchased the sesame chicken frozen entree two weeks prior at a local Aldi store.
“I was trying to explain to [my daughter Ashley] that this is more meatier and stick to your bones more than this it’s heavier. Little did we know why,” said Kader
Bellisio Foods, which manufactured the frozen dinner, has launched an investigation to determine how the clamp snuck by their scales and metal detectors.
As for Ashley, she seemed more fazed that the preparation instructions didn’t include a contingency for metal clamps:
It disturbed me that, for one, I wouldn’t haven’t eaten it anyway–but I was going to give my sister food and I can’t microwave this with metal in it.
Steel Clamp Found In Frozen Dinner Leads To Recall [WOWT]
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Is there something in Omaha’s water supply that makes its residents incapable of forming coherent sentences?
The mother’s statement that the meal in question is “more stick to your bones” or the daughters complaint that “It disturbed me that, for one, I wouldn’t haven’t eaten it anyway–but I was going to give my sister food and I can’t microwave this with metal in it.” makes both of them sound like they are on some sort of drug that disorients them both– making it impossible for them to deal with the perplexing problem of what to do about the metal clamp.
Hint: Don’t eat it.
What difference does it make if she shopped at Aldi or not?
Oops I hit enter before I finished….
Anyway, I would not expect a big metal object in my food no matter if I bought it from
Safeway or Aldi or even the Dollar Tree. Sure the food may not taste good at the price, but you don’t expect foreign objects in any kind of food.
@Hossofcourse: alas, Adobe doesn’t make a version of Flash for me yet (amd64 + gentoo linux + firefox3), and I’m too lazy to try the ugly hacks that are floating around to get it working. No inline video for me.
The news page did a better job of transcribing, but even they didn’t parse it well. It might make more sense like…
But it’s still an execrable run-on. I’m such a snob…
Did that “more stick to your bones” bit come from the video?
LOL! Hilarious! That gigantic piece of machinery (easily visible)in a frozen dinner. I guess they dont have any quality control employees sitting beside the conveyor belt looking out for things like this, huh?
misteaks hapen.
I think a lot of people are missing the point, it doesn’t matter where she bought it it still shouldn’t have a HUGE clamp in the frozen meal to begin with.
You would think there would be some kind of QC that should have caught that. It’s not exactly hiding.
Let’s clear up a few misconceptions:
That the food is less expensive at Aldi does not mean it’s poor quality. It’s less expensive because the company has far less operating overhead and works on lower margins. The manufacturers are the same that make the brands and other retailers’ store brands.
Trader Joe’s is not higher quality. It uses a low cost supply base to manufacture food that is unique to the market or difficult to find. There is nothing gourmet about what they sell.
The metal detectors and scales didn’t miss the clamp. The only possibility is that it was placed there intentionally, possibly by a disgruntled employee. This has nothing to do with Aldi.
National brands and retailers like Whole Foods have brainwashed Americans into believing higher price = higher quality. Stop falling for million dollar marketing and use your heads.
@ExecutorElassus: The article is a transcript of the video. I think I’d talk like them if a news reporter was trying to get one liners from me over a frozen clamp. We dont hear what the stupid questions were, but a good guess would be:
So mom, why did you buy the chicken with clamp instead of say fish sticks with salmanella (camera rolling): “I was trying to explain to [my daughter Ashley] that this is more meatier and stick to your bones more than this it’s heavier. Little did we know why,”
And daughter, how did the clamp dinner make you feel (moves mike closer): “It disturbed me that, for one, I would never have eaten it anyway, but I was going to give my sister food and I can’t mircowave this with metal in it,”
@SaraAB87: Funnily enough the mother mentions noticing the extra weight while in the store — but she was holding two different brands, not two of the same brand
The fact that BOTH the weight and the metal detector “missed” this is just disturbing. I could see (but not really excuse) not noticing small metal fragments, but a clamp that takes up 1/4 of the package? Maybe Bellisio Foods should consider TURNING ON their scale and metal detector.
Photogdc: Try again, moron.
@chiieddy: I know. I do that too. But is that what the f’ing article is about?
Answer: no, it is not.
@ShortBus: Yeah I don’t spend nights awake and tormented because I don’t read up on Trader Joes, if that is what you are implying.
There’s more than being in a union than simply wages, but I don’t expect someone coming from your perspective to appreciate that.
@phairphair:
I agree on the disgruntled employee theory. It’s highly unlikely that both the scale & the metal detector could fail to miss that something was wrong with this package!
My guess is that an employee placed the parts in the food tray, note that both pieces are lying perfectly flat. That too is highly unlikely & that there isn’t any food on top of the clamp parts. Since we don’t know where on the line the metal detector is, I going to say it’s after the box is sealed up. So the employee then let the tray go into the box & get sealed & carried the box around the detector & the scale.
Of course, that all goes out the window if it was tampered with after the food plant.
It”s possible that it could be done with an iron or heat gun.
Despite what they said, I hope the mom takes a lie detector test, there have been too many fake tamperings. The Wendy’s finger being the worst.
Hmm, I thought this was a story about a “Perform your own Gastric Bypass Surgery at Home” product.
I think I’d care more if not for the fact that I simply think these women are ridiculously airheaded and needed to get their reasoning skills in order before speaking to the reporter. “I was going to give my sister food but I can’t microwave this with metal in it”…no *$&% sherlock! But why the heck would you even give this to anyone anyway? And the mother’s “stick to your bones” comment made me want to start making up my own phrases and casually interject them into places they don’t belong.
@Techno Viking: A bit more expensive?
At Aldi’s that probably cost a dollar … being 5x more expensive is not a small difference.
haha too bad they didn’t have me as a customer I would have been hapy to recieve such a beautiful steel clamp
. That thing probably costs more than the TV dinner!
@ARVash: “haha too bad they didn’t have me as a customer I would have been hapy to recieve such a beautiful steel clamp
. That thing probably costs more than the TV dinner!”
Congratulations! You’re our 100,000th customer and you’ve won this LARGE METAL CLAMP! P.S. the clamp is not microwave safe…
Ooo, maybe the clamp is one of the “special purchases” Aldi has every week?
They just opened the first Aldi in Rhode Island near me, and the first thing I tried to figure out is why they would sell an Air Hockey table?
The clamp goes around your heart to keep it from bursting after eating all those microwave meals
From watching “how they do it” type shows on Discovery, History Channel, Science Channel, et al, I’ve seen that it is not unusual for food manufacturers to have a metal detector near the end of the production line, about where they do QA for proper weight, etc. One example I recall is Dreyer’s Ice Cream has a metal detector before the container goes into the freezer before distribution.
How hard is it for food producers to add a metal detector to their production line?
That’s not a bad deal really. Mcmaster sells these for much more than that meal cost, I’m sure. I need to get a few hundred of these meals for a project I’m working on. Bonus, you get the entree your lunches…
Part Number 4322K153
High-Polish 304 SS Quick-Clamp Tube Fitting Wing-Nut Clamp for 2″ Tube OD, 2.516″ Flange OD
In stock at $10.30 Each
@S-the-K: All food processors are required to have metal detectors on the line. Canned goods processors have them placed before the product is packaged. A clamp like this could not have made it past their QC unless an employee was complicit or someone added it after the item shipped. The most likely explanation here is product tampering.
worst thing about Sesame chicken ordered from chinese fast food? msg and high in transfat and oil.
worst thing about microwavable chicken frozen in a box?
METAL CLAMPS!!
this is just too funny. it must have been a prank by a worker. i laughed so hard as soon as i saw the picture.
@Techno Viking: Collectively speaking, yes, here in America we have many choices for grocery shopping – however, that’s not true for all regions.
As other commenters have noted, depending on where you live you many not have a choice: in many rural areas you may count yourself lucky to have a single supermarket within an hour’s drive. In poorer parts of the inner city, you often have NO actual grocery stores – only convenience stores selling a very limited selection (with little on no fresh produce, or unprocessed meats) or fast food restaurants. The latter situation is colloquially called a “food desert,” and is cited as one of the leading causes of poor dietary habits in urban areas.
I think it is very sad that people on this forum are arrogantly attacking these people.
I do not shop in Aldi’s because I don’t like renting a shopping cart. Still, I understand why many people do. I also prefer organic foods when possible …
But,
not all of us have the financial means to shop @ Trader Joe’s or upscale stores. Regardless of the circumstances, no one should be put down or made fun of because they shop @ Aldi’s.
Be thankful if you don’t have to …
Just because someone shops at Aldi’s doesn’t automatically make them ignorant. I shop there for certain staples like flour, vanilla, etc. There are some really good products there that are cheaper than the grocery stores. I also like their wine. Cheap doesn’t have to mean bad.
Aldi’s also seems to treat their employees well. They pay decently and offer benefits and paid vacations and holidays to them, which is another good reason to shop there. Support places that treat their employees well, unlike Wal-mart.
Here’s what I want to know:
Did the people who bought the item *try* contacting Aldi/the manufacturer first, or did they automatically go running to the “news team”?
I have shopped at Aldi for years, and have never had any issues of this sort. The food quality exceeds standards, and the prices will always fit my budget.
My in-laws are likewise longtime shoppers. About a decade ago, they found a quarter-sized, sharp & twisted piece of metal in a can of Aldi soup. My MIL wrote a very nice letter to Aldi, and also alerted the store manager. The soup was pulled, and Aldi sent her tons of stuff and coupons, with their apology.
Seriously, mistakes happen, and they should be dealt with. However, many people today seem to be more concerned with personal attention or gain than with the good of everyone. It is a public mistake, which doesn’t exempt it from coverage, but this shit gets blown way out of proportion sometimes.
You know what? I love going to Bristol Farms, which is like a European-style speciality supermarket. They have really fresh stuff, fairly rare items (Boylan’s Grape Soda FTW bitches), REALLY rare items (I like weird cheeses), fresh soups, foods, and sanwiches, and general everyday grocery store type of stuff also. They have this frozen mac n’ cheese that’s probably the best mac n’ cheese I’ve ever had in my life. Period.
But, the downside to all the greatness that is Bristol Farms is that it’s goddamn expensive as hell. That mac n’ cheese I was talking about used to be $12 bucks a pop (it’s like 3 servings, which means it’s still like $6 more than Stouffer’s, but you pay for the quality, mmmm), but it’s now $14. 1 bottle of Boylan’s is something like $2, where I used to get the same thing at Treasure Island, in Chicago, in the Gold Coast, for like $1.25.
So even though Bristol Farms is goddamn awesome and has really high quality shit (did I mention that every meat you get has to be purchased, weighed, and handwrapped with brown paper (no plastic) at the deli, even stuff like bacon and ground beef?), it’s also really goddamn expensive.
Since everything seems to be getting pricier these days (food, gas, rent), and I still need to get out every few months because I’m single (women folk are also pricier these days), I end up eating veggies from the swap meet (tomatoes 2 lbs/$1! plums 1 lb/$1! huge, red apple-sized nectarines 1lb/$1!) and cheap everything else from Food 4 Less, the lowest quality of all in terms of meats and veggies. Kraft dinner for me….
@trujunglist: $12 for mac & cheese? I can’t imagine anybody paying that unless they thought that price tag was in pesos instead of dollars. You must be dealing in some alternative currency. I had never heard of BF before. They’re in all these expensive SoCal neighborhoods, it turns out. But comeonnow–don’t you get tired of people sucking up to you with brown butcher paper and untainted soup, just so they can charge you a 900% markup? It doesn’t cost that much more to make that bacon or that sandwich than it does at F4L. Don’t we deserve to eat non-rotten food as a matter of humanity, rather than as a matter of uberboutique marketing?
Save your money and make your woman dinner. She’ll love you all the more for it.