Rotorua man bites into sausage containing sharp piece of wood

A piece of wood that was found in a packet of sausages purchased from Countdown on Fairy Springs. Photo / Supplied

A Rotorua man cut the inside of his cheek after biting into a sausage containing a sharp piece of wood described on social media as being like a ''mouldy toothpick''.

Mangakakahi woman Shaq Harpur said her partner, Dion Carlton, discovered the small piece of wood inside a spicy chorizo sausage from a packet they bought at a Rotorua Countdown.

Countdown says it is taking the matter seriously and investigating.

Harpur, a 24-year-old daycare centre teacher, said they bought the sausages from Countdown Fairy Springs in mid-September but only got round to cooking them for dinner last week.

The piece of wood was found in a packet of spicy chorizo sausages. Photo / Supplied

"We purchased the sausages about a month ago and had them stored in the freezer until we pulled them out to cook them."

Carlton, a 24-year-old chef and maintenance worker, had "bitten into it" and suffered a "minor cut on the inside of his cheek" but would be okay, she said.

"We wouldn't even feed them to our dogs, so we just threw the sausages out."

She took the packaging and the piece of wood into the Countdown store today so the batch number could be identified.

"They gave me a refund and let me pick a free meat pack," she said.

A Facebook post about the find has already been shared more than 50 times with comments saying how "crazy" it is.

"It looks like a mouldy toothpick," one person said.

The discovery follows Tauranga mother Faria Jahan finding an earwig in the pre-packaged fruit salad she was about to give her pre-schooler earlier this month.

A Countdown spokesperson said food safety was its utmost priority and it took complaints such as this seriously.

"This customer has contacted us directly and we're currently investigating with the supplier to see what's happened."