A MOTHER has told how her four-year-old son was traumatised after choking on a sharp bone inside a fish finger.
Amy Hallett, of Bramber Close, Seaford, said her son Jaiden “won’t touch any fish fingers any more” after the Birds Eye Crispy Fish Fingers left him with scratches at the back of his throat.
The 33-year-old mother of two had fed Jaiden and her two-year-old daughter Kiki-Louise the same product for their dinner – then she noticed her son’s face going red.
Ms Hallett said: “I thought he was mucking around at first but he was choking.
“The colour started changing on his face and I had to pull the bone out myself, which is when the scratches at the back of his throat must have happened.
“It was quite a clear piece of bone and was pointed and sharp.
“He had a couple of days off school because of it.
“It scared me. Actually it terrified me as a mother that I have fed my kids that, including my younger daughter.
“He only had his tonsils out around a year ago.”
Ms Hallett, who said the bone was nearly 2cm long, complained to Birds Eye.
She said: “I said when I spoke to a manager ‘what would you do if it was your child?’.
“They need to sort their service out.”
Jaiden was taken to the doctor to be checked over and Ms Hallett was told to give him Calpol to ease the pain from the scratches.
Ms Hallett said Birds Eye was not initially helpful when she phoned them but then the company sent her a letter in recognition of her complaint as well as 15 £1 vouchers that could be spent on the company’s products.
In the letter responding to Ms Hallett’s complaint, a customer care adviser apologised for the “distressing” incident.
The letter said: “However, we are concerned that a bone has eluded detection and I can assure you that I have reported the details to the quality team at our factory.”
The company said each fish can contain more than 350 bones and that it is “impossible to guarantee 100 per cent removal”.
Ms Hallett said when she spoke to a manager on the phone yesterday, he offered to give her son a high street shopping voucher.
A Birds Eye spokeswoman said: “We were concerned to hear about the recent experience that Amy and her son had with Birds Eye Crispy Fish Fingers and we can only apologise for what must have been an unpleasant experience.
“At Birds Eye we are committed to upholding the highest quality standards in all our products.
“The fish that we use in our Birds Eye Crispy Fish Fingers has to meet very tight quality specifications and we make every effort to remove fish bones.
“This is why we have a short message on all our fish fingers packs to make consumers aware that occasionally a fish bone may be present.
“We take these cases extremely seriously and want to stress that the health and safety of our consumers is our number one priority.”
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