'Slug' found in Heinz baby food actually 'mould', says SA Health

So Gaynor Giro was horrified when she pulled what she describes as a slug out of her five-month-old granddaughter's tinned Heinz baby food.

"It's just revolting," Ms Giro said. "I just couldn't believe it."

Ms Giro found the slimy, 5cm "slug" in a can of Heinz banana custard when she was feeding Aleksandra Giro at a family dinner on Tuesday.

Ms Giro, 41, of Walkerville, told the Sunday Mail she was convinced she pulled a slug out of the can, despite SA Health assurances it was not a slug.

"You can't tell me that that's not a slug," she said. "That's got feelers, mate.

"You can't tell me that's organic. Look at it - that's a slug."


Ms Giro said she was horrified to realise she was about to feed the baby the "slug".

"I thought it was mould at first, too, but we washed it and found that it was a slug," she said. "I stirred the custard because it was really runny, but imagine if I hadn't and just started feeding Aleksandra.

"I could've made her sick or if I'd given her chunky baby food I wouldn't even have known it was in there."

Ms Giro bought the food from a local supermarket, and the expiry date on the can was September, 2012.

"Imagine if it had been closer to the expiry date," she said. "Who knows how many would have dissolved?"

SA Health analysed the "slug" and told the Sunday Mail in a statement it was "coagulated" ingredients that were the result of air getting into the damaged can. "It has been confirmed that the material was neither a slug, nor rubber or plastic," the statement said.

A Heinz spokeswoman said the can was probably damaged after it left the factory. "We are, however, conducting a thorough investigation as per normal procedures," she said.

"Even if it was mould, it's in baby food," Ms Giro said. "It could've made her sick."

Ms Giro said she would throw out all of the dozens of canned baby food she had in her cupboard for when she babysat her two grandchildren.

"I'm making our own baby food from now on," she said. "They could offer me a whole year's supply and I wouldn't touch it.

"I don't even want to open my tinned tomatoes now. This has put me off buying any food that you can't make with your own hands."

Ms Giro said she did not believe the Government's analysis of the substance. "They've gone for hush-hush here," she said. "It might be a one-off, but it happened to me."

Ms Giro said a Heinz sales representative first told her to post the slug back to them, and then offered to pick it up to analyse it. Instead, she called SA Health for an independent analysis.

SA Health said retailers should avoid selling dented or damaged cans, and the public should not buy or consume food from dented or damaged cans.

An Opposition spokesman said the test results should be released publicly and the baby food recalled from sale.