A Muslim mum is demanding that her pasta sauce be lab tested as she fears it contains pork.
Rianna Ward became extremely distraught after eating the creamy Cucina lasagne sauce, which she says tasted suspiciously like pork.
The 29-year-old was fixing her son dinner with the lasagne sauce, labeled as vegetarian, but started smelling “something odd” as the sauce cooked. She is now convinced that the sauce contains bacon.
Ward said: “I just sat down and my young son said ‘Mummy, this smells like bacon.’”
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She continued: “When I ate it, it tasted just like bacon which made me feel sick. I was absolutely seething and went back down to the store. I just went in with the jar of sauce and made them smell it. I thought it must have been contaminated. There was no bacon in it because it had a vegetarian label but a staff member kept telling me it was a carbonara sauce. It isn’t. It’s just a white sauce but that shouldn’t explain why it tastes like bacon.”
Ward converted to Islam seven years ago, and she is very familiar with the taste and smell of bacon.
She lodged an official complaint with Aldi, and stored some of the food in her fridge as evidence.
She stated: “I’m absolutely furious. I’ve been a Muslim for years now and avoided bacon for so long. Then this happens. I felt like I’d betrayed my religion. Aldi have told me they are going to test the sauce to see if it has been contaminated. It’s just not on.”
Photo Credit: Political News of the Day
An Aldi spokesperson responded to the complaint, and reassured customers that the sauce is vegetarian, but that it has a distinctive smoked flavor.
The spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear Miss Ward is unhappy with this product and can reassure her the lasagne sauce is completely meat free. The product is flavored with smoked salt which gives it its distinctive taste.”
