What some Kiwis have found in their food: Complaints to Ministry for Primary Industries

A mouse found in a packet of frozen beans was among the 200 complaints to MPI about foreign objects in food last year. Photo / File

It's enough to put you off your food, but a lizard floating in a beer, a cotton ball in cereal, plaster in juice and a knife blade hiding in a bag of chips are among the foreign objects found in Kiwis' food last year.

The Ministry for Primary Industries received 750 food complaints between January and November 27, 2019 - the highest number in the past four years, according to information released under the Official Information Act.

The largest number of complaints related to the 200 complaints about foreign objects found in food - 30 more than the previous year and almost three times more complaints than in 2017.

There were also 166 complaints around either unregistered food businesses or non-compliance with food standards or programmes and 108 complaints relating to environmental factors such as a food business' cleanliness.

An MPI spokesperson said the increase could be due to a number of things including more fast food chains now registered with MPI instead of their local council and a change in the way MPI handles lower-risk complaints.

There was an increase of foreign matter complaints after the well publicised needles in strawberries issue in Australia in 2018.

One of the most alarming complaints in 2019 was the discovery of a mouse inside a pack of frozen beans.

A lizard or gecko was also reported to be floating in a bottle of imported beer.

A cutting blade was found in a bag of porridge oats while a craft knife blade was an unpleasant surprise in someone's cereal.

A member of the public also hit a hard note when they found a metal nut and bolt inside the pie they were tucking into. Another supplier got into a sticky situation when a plaster was found in juice.

One food manufacturer was literally giving money away with a find of a 20c coin in some coleslaw, while another unsuspecting consumer found a rubber band hiding in marinated mussels.

Creepy crawlies also managed to make their way on to the complaints list with a worm being discovered in an egg, another insect in bread and a wasp hanging out in a packet of frozen raspberries,

Random pieces of plastic were a common occurrence in all sorts of food including bread, carrot cake, cereal, prunes and yoghurt.

Metal pins and pills and tablets also appeared to make up a number of complaints - but in most of these cases MPI investigators could not confirm the source of the foreign matter and felt it was unlikely to have originated from a food business.

While some of the complaints could not be substantiated, MPI did refer some complaints elsewhere, provide educational advice or speak to the manufacturer to ensure the failure was identified and rectified as was the case with the frozen mouse.

In its response, MPI acting director of compliance services Gray Harrison said New Zealand Food Safety had a new strategy in place to grow New Zealand's reputation as a provider of trusted and safe food in the next four years.