Cape Town - Woolworths has admitted that it was indeed a mouse that had been found in one of its pies.
But the retailer believes the rodent was placed there after the steak and kidney pie was already baked.
This comes after Manenberg resident Carmelita Pienaar, 31, found the mouse in a steak and kidney pie she had bought from Woolies in Adderley Street, Cape Town, on Monday.
A horrified Pienaar, 31, said after she bit into her pie, she could tell it felt and tasted different, and opened it.
To her shock, she discovered a black mouse inside.
She took the pie back to Woolies, who immediately investigated to find out how the mouse got there.
On Thursday, the retailer confirmed that the “foreign object” found in the pie was indeed a mouse, but it had no idea how it got into the pastry.
In a statement, Woolworths said: “Following an investigation, we can confirm that the mouse was not baked into the pie at our store but was rather put in it post production.”
It adds: “We are continuing our investigation to establish the source of the foreign object.”
Woolworths reimbursed Pienaar the R20 she paid for the pie, while the store manager also gave her R350 to see a doctor.
Watch: What if you found a mouse in your pie?
Pienaar, who vomited after biting into the pie and complained of an itchy rash on her body, resents the implication that she may have put the mouse in the pie herself.
“I dunno how it got there,” the outraged woman said.
She then referred Daily Voice to her friend who was with her at the time.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “I was there and I saw it. I’m sure if they ran the proper tests they would see that the mouse was in there when the pie was made.”
Pienaar said Woolworths management have been in contact with her and promised to pay for any follow-up doctor’s visits.
This is not the first time Pienaar has found foreign objects in her fast food.
Last year she complained on Facebook when she found hair and fingernails in a chicken meal that she bought at an Adderley Street restaurant.
“I complained and they gave me other chicken,” she said.
Daily Voice