Lidl has issued an apology after a woman found what appears to the head of a lizard in her vegan bolognese sauce.
Polly Wheaton, 47, cooked up the meal for her twin daughters, Isabelle and Megan, but was 'revolted' when one of them discovered the scaly surprise towards the end.
As 20-year-old Isabelle was reaching the end of her plate, she found what looks an awful lot like a lizard's head sitting on the plate.
Her mum believes it must have come from a jar of tomatoes or a jar of sauce bought from her local Lidl supermarket.
Lidl has launched 'a thorough investigation' into the incident and has said that it is 'very sorry'.
However, that's not enough for Polly, who says she'll never shop with them again.
Polly, from Shoeburyness in Essex, said: "It was traumatising - my daughter still can't eat properly after this.
"It's not about being vegan - nobody wants to find that in their food, whether they eat meat or not. But it did make it all the more revolting for her.
"I feel at the very least that this product should have been recalled. The fact that we found an exotic animal in our food in the middle of a global pandemic is shocking."
She continued: "But I haven't had so much as a courtesy call from Lidl to apologise.
"I've had to constantly chase them over the last six weeks, and all they've told me is that their complaints team is still looking into it.
"I think this should take precedence over someone who has complained about a bad can of baked beans or something."
Polly reckons that the suspected reptile head was about the size of her thumbnail, which is why she didn't immediately notice it when adding the ingredients to her meal.
She added: "I don't usually shop at Lidl - during the lockdown, I've just found it to be the most convenient and the most quiet supermarket.
"But I certainly won't be shopping there again."
A spokesperson for Lidl said: "We were very sorry to hear of this matter and would like to sincerely apologise for any distress that this may have caused.
"Following the customer's initial enquiry the case was immediately raised to our Quality Assurance team who launched a thorough investigation with our suppliers.
"At Lidl, we pride ourselves on having thorough procedures in place to ensure that our products are of the highest possible quality for our customers.
"We are, therefore, disappointed that these expected high standards have not been met on this occasion.
"We are keeping the customer updated on the progress of this investigation, and upon its conclusion will share any results directly."
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Food, UK News, lidl, Food And Drink, Weird