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The sewing needle allegedly found in a loaf of Ploughmans Bakery bread.
The bakery behind Plowmans bread is investigating after a Wellington man reported finding a sewing needle in sliced bread.
Dwight, whoStuff He has agreed not to give his full name, said he was buttering a slice of Harvest Rye rye bread from Ploughmans Bakery when he saw the light reflecting off the spire.
“I could not believe it. Thank God I didn’t bite him,” she said.
After the initial shock of the discovery, Dwight said he thought the needle had been planted as a hoax.
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“I have small children and I thought one of them might have done it for a laugh, but there are no holes in the bag where it would have entered. The bread must have been out of the bag,” she said.
ROBERT KITCHEN/THINGS
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“It certainly wasn’t an accident, it was pushed in, in line with the slice of bread.”
Dwight said he bought the bread at a Lower Hutt supermarket about a month ago and stored it in his freezer. Due to the time he had spent, he couldn’t be sure which supermarket he bought it from.
The Ploughmans Bakery brand is owned by George Weston Foods (GWF), which also produces Tip Top and Burgen bread.
In a statement, a GWF spokesperson said Dwight’s bread, bag and needle had been collected for examination.
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Dwight says the light reflecting off the needle caught his eye as he buttered the bread.
After that, they would be sent to the police who would pass them on to the Environmental Science and Research Institute (ESR) for independent evaluation.
GWF had a rigorous food safety program with zero tolerance for quality violations, he said.
Two metal detectors were used to ensure that metal did not enter their loaves. A preliminary detector checked each loaf before slicing and a primary detector checked the bags after labeling.
“The main one can detect any ferrous metal over 2.5mm in length, and the needle we received from the consumer was over 40mm. No needles are used on our bread making line.”
The metal detectors were regularly checked and independently calibrated and were working as they should, he said.
“We know from the label when the bread was baked, and we have reviewed the video footage of the production and have not found any anomalies.”
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) had been notified of the report and the actions GWF was taking, the spokesperson said.
“The safety and quality of our products are very important to us, so we are taking this issue seriously.”
Both MPI and police said that reports of needles in food were rare and that Dwight’s report would be taken seriously.
Dwight said he had been buying bread from Ploughmans Bakery for years. He had not had any other problems and was impressed by the seriousness with which GWF was taking his complaint.
“Her immediate concern was for me, that she hadn’t bitten me or hurt me.”
In 2018, several cases of needles found in baskets of strawberries purchased in supermarkets were reported.
The cases followed the discovery of sewing needles in strawberries in all six Australian states, prompting New Zealand to remove the Australian-grown fruit from its supermarket shelves.