A string of Melbourne shoppers have reported finding foreign objects in food bought from Aldi.
Last week, a Richmond couple found a maggot in a jar of Remano tomato paste, which they bought from an Aldi store in Abbotsford, The Age reports.
Since then other Aldi customers have contacted Fairfax Media claiming to have found foreign objects and creatures in food bought from the cut-price supermarket chain.
One customer, who asked to be known only as Michelle, opened a Mozart Chocolate late last year to find live maggots inside.
"I opened the wrapper and there was a maggot crawling out of the chocolate," Michelle said.
The chocolates were sold by Aldi around Christmas, for a third of the cost at which they usually retail at department stores.
Another customer, who asked not to be named, said he opened a tin of Ocean Rise smoked mussels bought from Aldi to find what appeared to be the leg of a starfish inside.
The customer said he lodged a formal complaint with Aldi, but was disappointed by their response.
"All they offered was a 'sorry' and promised they would instruct the operators on the difference," he said.
Tania Ewing said her daughter found a fingernail in a tub of salted caramel ice cream bought from an Aldi store in Brunswick last October.
"It took us three months to get any response from Aldi," Ewing said.
Another woman, who asked to be known only as Jan, said she found a piece of metal in the bottom of a jar of Bramwells peanut butter that she bought from an Aldi store in Melbourne's south-east.
"It looked like the tip of a knife, but all my knives are intact. I suspect it was something in the manufacturing equipment that broke off," she said.
Jan took her complaint to Consumer Affairs Victoria, which referred her to Casey City Council. But she was told by council investigators that the matter could be better dealt with by NSW health authorities.
"I have heard nothing more," she said.
An Aldi spokesman said the supermarket had investigated the issues raised by its Melbourne customers, but found the problems were not widespread.
"For the incidents mentioned, there has not been an illustration of any trends and customers that have been in contact with Aldi have been responded to," the spokesman said.
"Any complaints are raised individually and investigated with extremely high importance. Aldi will always remove any product from sale if it is identified as a risk to our customers."
The spokesman said the supermarket was investigating last week's discovery of the maggot in the jar of Remano tomato paste. He said the jar had been collected from customers Adrian Chew and his partner Stephanie on Saturday, and was in transit to the supplier for testing.
"Aldi has been investigating the issue thoroughly with the supplier and we will implement any further action if required," the spokesman said.