Horrified mum issues warning after toothpicks found in Lidl apples as supermarket launches probe

A horrified mum has warned other parents after allegedly finding sharp toothpicks ‘buried’ inside in her apples bought from Lidl. Susana De Castro was settling down for the evening with a red apple on April 11 when she claims to have felt something suspicious lurking underneath the fruit’s skin.

The 43-year-old initially thought the hard object was a thorn and tried to remove it, only to realise it was something entirely different. As the mother-of-four began to peel the apple, she found that what she had mistaken for a 'thorn' was actually a sharp-edged toothpick buried in the middle of the fruit.

Horrified, Susana's daughter began filming her mum peeling the remainder of the apples left in the £2.69 bag - and claims two more of the fruit contained the dangerous item.

The family, who had purchased the apples from Lidl in Patchway, Bristol, on April 6, said she was grateful one of their children did not seriously harm themselves by eating the fruit - and are warning other parents to remain vigilant.

Lidl said they were sorry to hear about the incident but said they “haven't had any similar complaints” so did not believe there was cause for wider concern. However, they confirmed they would investigate further when Susana gets back in touch with them.

Susana said: "I thought oh my god. I couldn't work out if it had gone through to the other end but I couldn't see anything else. I was very shocked. My 12-year-old always just grabs an apple and tucks in - it was so lucky he didn't. My husband was shocked and really angry. It could've easily gone through the roof of my mouth. It was like a booby trap. It doesn't bear thinking about what could've happened."

The family returned the pack of apples to Lidl the following day - claiming the manager was 'very apologetic' and issued a refund. They are now warning other parents to remain vigilant of suspicious items lurking in supermarket produce.

Susana said: "(The manager) was baffled and said they were going to get in contact with the farmer. This was really shocking because it came straight from the supermarket. Did somebody go around sticking toothpicks in the apples? Why? "We want to warn other parents to be vigilant and be extra careful. You see pictures on social media of needles in chocolate on Halloween and things but you never think it's actually going to happen. "All supermarkets - everywhere that has fresh produce - needs to be vigilant. Obviously there's some very sick people out there doing this. It's really scary. You think what else can they put in there? We've told the kids you need to be very careful and let us cut them up first."

A Lidl spokesperson said: "We were sorry to learn about this experience and while we haven't had any similar complaints we would encourage the customer to contact our Customer Care team with the requested detail to enable us to carry out a thorough investigation."