'It looked like half a rat': Aldi recalls 38,000 packs of frozen vegetables after shocked customers discover 'small pieces of rodent' inside

 ALDI have taken up to 38,000 packets of frozen veg off the shelves after a customer complained she had found a rat in one.

Pat Bateman, 60, discovered the vile rodent parts while feeding lunch to her two-year-old granddaughter.

The grandma-of-five complained to the German budget supermarket chain which promised to investigate and offered her £30 compensation before upping it to £500.

But Pat is refusing to accept the money after the retailer has also received two other similar complaints about rodents in the food chain from Environmental Health inspectors.

And it emerged a similar complaint had been made back in February 2017 when a “mouse portion” was found in the same mixed greens.

Pat, who lives with husband Dave, 70, in Liskeard, Cornwall, said: “I had just finished up feeding my grandaughter her lunch when I went to put the packet back in the freezer.

“It was nearly empty so that’s why I spotted something that looked out of place in the bottom of the bag.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I pulled it out. It just looked like half a rat. It had fur on it. I showed my husband and because it was frozen we left it to defrost before taking another look at it.

“I went straight back to our local Aldi where I got it from and although the manager was very nice - he just said I would get £30 off my food shop.

“I didn’t think he had taken it very seriously so I went home, took some pictures and sent it off to Aldi head office.

“I have had two offers for compensation after they assured me that there was no infestation where the veg was grown - but I don’t think £500 is enough.

“We felt physically sick after finding the rat. We had eaten almost all of the bag before we saw it - and what’s even worse - I fed it to my youngest granddaughter.

“It’s a wonder none of us ended up physically ill.”

In a report seen by The Sun it emerged there have been three complaints of “pieces of small rodent being found in one batch of mixed vegetables”.

The supermarket chain said they had received one customer complaint and two from Environmental Health over the same batch and a further report of a “mouse portion” was found in the same product in February 2017.

The mixed veg is produced by a supplier Agrifreez in Saden, Belgium, and nearly 40,000 packets were sent out just before Christmas.

The internal report states the rodent is likely to have entered the food chain with some green beans.

It added that although inspectors concluded the factory was not suffering from an infestation, all frozen vegetable produce supplied by Agrifreez had been removed from sale.

The report states: “Three complaints have been received due to pieces of small rodent being found in 52163 Mixed Vegetables.

A removal from sale was enacted on 05 January 2018 and an investigation is underway to identify the root cause and implement corrective action to prevent any re-occurrence before production restarts.”

An Aldi spokesman said: “Following Mrs Bateman’s complaint, we removed this product from sale to prevent any further issues.

“We have suspended all orders from this production site whilst we investigate this matter.”

Pat is a former florist while husband Dave was a builder.