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Razor blade found in milk carton, Island woman claims

Investigation underway
9757369_web1_171211-CCI-M-milk-carton
A woman from the Cowichan Valley says she found this razor blade in this milk carton. (Submitted photo)

A razor blade that a Cowichan Valley woman said she found in a two-litre carton of two per cent milk is raising concerns.

Rhiana Harris said she bought the milk, processed by Island Farms, five days ago at the Great Canadian Superstore in Duncan.

She said she poured some of the milk out to warm it to make a tea, and the small razor blade fell into the heating pot.

“I was concerned that some of the milk at the supermarket might also have razor blades or something else in their cartons, so I called the store,” Harris said.

“I was told they would check out the milk there and would pull any milk that looks suspicious. They also said they would investigate the matter.”

The Loblaw Public Relations Team, which speaks for the Great Canadian Superstore, said the safety and well-being of the store’s customers is its top priority, and team members have been in contact with Harris.

“Given the nature of the tamper-proof packaging, it is extremely unlikely that any foreign material could have entered the product while it was in our supply chain,” the team said in a statement.

“Nonetheless, we are in contact with the vendor and are assisting their detailed investigation.”

Veronique Boileau, a spokeswoman for Agropur, Island Farm’s parent company, said the company has already carried out a detailed investigation into the incident, which included a thorough analysis of the carton, and determined that it is “extremely unlikely” that the razor blade entered the milk carton while it was in their plant.

“It’s an unfortunate incident, but an isolated one,” she said.

“The safety and well being of our customers is always our top priority”

In July, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced the RCMP were investigating the potential tampering of milk products from producers Lucerne, Natrel and Island Farms, which are all owned by Agropur.

The investigation began after complaints were received from people around Vancouver Island of finding “harmful extraneous material” in their milk products.

A recall of the products was announced, which applied to two-and-four litre plastic jugs.

Since then, Island Farms has introduced peel-off double protection safety seals to all its plastic milk jugs.

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robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com

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Robert Barron

About the Author: Robert Barron

Since 2016, I've had had the pleasure of working with our dedicated staff and community in the Cowichan Valley.
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