TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A child ate two pork ribs purchased from Costco Taiwan that had blade fragments wedged inside them, but luckily was not injured.
A woman surnamed Hsieh (謝) recently bought frozen pork ribs at the Costco store in Taipei's Neihu District. On Monday (Jan. 8), she uploaded a post to the Facebook group "Costco Honest Product Experiences" revealing that she thawed the pork spare ribs to make soup for her daughter.
When her daughter started eating the soup, she shouted, "Mom, there are blades in the ribs!" Hsieh expressed her astonishment, saying, "How is that possible?" Hsieh then found a piece of metal lodged inside one of the spare ribs.
Blade found in pork rib. (Hsieh photo)
Hsieh told her daughter, "It might be a mistake; it's inevitable that these things happen! It's okay! Be more careful." Her daughter replied, "The blade was very sharp! It poked my tongue!"
When her daughter started eating a second bowl of soup and chewed on a second rib, she found a larger metal shard. Hsieh described the situation as "ridiculous."
Hsieh said her daughter is 10 years old, but if she had been younger she could have cut herself. Hsieh added, "I really can’t imagine what would happen if a family with small children allowed them to eat spare ribs with these kinds of blades?"
Closeup of pork rib and blade fragment found inside. (Hsieh photo)
Hsieh said she had called Costco's customer service to report the issue and was waiting for them to return her call.
Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁), head of the Food and Drug Administration at the Taipei City Department of Health, told SET News the blade fragments were likely inadvertently included during the meat processing. Meat cutting should normally have risk management practices that remove any potential hazards.
The health department said it will send personnel to the Neihu Costco on Tuesday (Jan. 9) to assess the situation. If the meat packing plant responsible for the ribs is located in Taipei, the health department will also send officials to investigate whether the meat-cutting process complies with regulations.
If the plant is located outside Taipei, the investigation will be conducted by the respective local authorities to prevent similar incidents from occurring again, the health department said.
Another blade fragment found in pork. (Hsieh photo)
