ONTARIO: Screw found in beef could have 'ripped us open,' family claims

08.feb.11
Ottawa Citizen
Kelly Patterson

Mike Hutchings and his mother were making hamburgers Saturday evening when they got a surprise: a metal screw embedded in the ground beef they had bought the day before at the South Keys Walmart.
The patties were already in the frying pan before the pair noticed, Hutchings said: "It was lucky mom was making hamburgers with onions in it, so she was pressing it ... or we wouldn't have noticed," he says, adding that the 3/4-inch screw could have "ripped us open" had they swallowed it.
Hutchings called the store to report the problem, but was shocked by the response he said he got. He was referred to a manager identified only as "Wayne," who "didn't want to acknowledge it," according to Hutchings.
Hutchings says the man just told him to call a 1-800 number on the package -- a number that neither Hutchings nor his mother could find.
In a phone call with the Citizen, the store's assistant manager Dave Cormier denied that the outlet sells meat at all; told that the Hutchings were sure they had bought the beef there, he replied, "Good for them. We don't sell meat here."
The Hutchings have a receipt showing the purchase was made at the South Keys outlet.
On Monday, the store's freezers were bare, as they had been emptied over the weekend as part of a renovation. One freezer was marked "Frozen Meats," and included a shelf with a label describing the three-pack of Walmart-brand beef Hutchings bought.
Andrew Pelletier, vice-president of corporate affairs for Walmart, put the discrepancy down to "a semantics thing," saying that staff often interpret the term "meat" to mean fresh meat, which is only sold in the chain's supercentres.
However, at the store, when explicitly asked whether the outlet had ever sold meat -- fresh or frozen -- an associate designated by Cormier to deal with the matter replied, "Unfortunately not." (The associate, whose first name is Chad, declined to give his full name).
Pelletier said that when he called on Saturday, Hutchings was invited to return the meat to the store so the matter could be investigated: "If there is a ... suspected product issue, the first thing that happens is the product needs to be examined closely to determine the appropriate action."
Safety is Walmart's No. 1 priority, Pelletier said, adding that "this particular product has been carried for a long time without issue or complaint, so it sounds like ... this is an isolated incident, but as a precaution the item has been removed from that store."
He said Hutchings declined to bring the item in, saying he lived far from the store and that it would be inconvenient. In such cases, the store would normally collect the product itself, but that didn't happen this time, Pelletier said.
"There was a bit of a communication gap," he said.
"There was sense the customer was going to bring the item back in a timely manner."
"That's bull," Hutchings argued. While the store did recommend coming in person to file a complaint, he said no mention was made of bringing the meat in, nor was there any offer by the manager to pick it up.
"He didn't even get my name or phone number," said Hutchings.
Pelletier admits that "the customer's information should have been obtained," and that the store should have "confirmed whether the customer was bringing the item back."
Nevertheless, the store pulled the products from the shelves immediately, he said.
"We do take these kinds of issues very seriously."