AN OSWESTRY man who found a ‘rusty blade’ in the last mouthful of his Sainsbury’s own-brand cottage pie has admitted his shock at the find.

John Perrins, 79 and of Woodside Court in Oswestry, was eating on the sofa at his home he shares with wife Linda, who also cares for him.

He said that he could not believe how close he came to swallowing the item which he says would have caused a lot of damage.

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“My wife was making me the cottage pie from Sainsbury’s own brand that we’ve had many times,” he said.

“They deliver our food every week and we’ve never had any problems with anything.

“I ate the last mouthful from the fork and I thought ‘my dentures have broken’ which obviously can happen to someone of my age.

“But I spat it all out onto the plate and there was a rusty metal blade with sharp points on either end, which I imagined was a way to cut the meat (at the factory), like a rotary blade.

“This was in the food that I had eaten.

“I didn’t get any harm from it but if I had swallowed that then God knows what it would have done to my insides – it would have definitely cut my inner lining.

“It would have been terrible – my first concern was to get in touch with Sainsbury’s with a photo of the blade itself and proof of the packaging with the possibility of getting it recalled.

“I was thinking about other people who might’ve had something of the same and in another experience, it could have killed someone.”

John Perrins says he had the blade in his mouth. John Perrins says he had the blade in his mouth. (Image: John Perrins.)

John said he contacted The Advertizer because he felt that his complaints to Sainsbury’s had fallen on deaf ears.

“I rung the local shop to speak to the manager and when I eventually got through, their reply was that I had had it delivered online so I had to complaint there,” he said.

“I wasn’t impressed by that at all.

“I had a close shave for this happening to me but just imagine if this was child that had been given it, because it’s chopped up, I dread to think what would have happened.

“Sainsbury’s said they would be in touch within three days and it’s been over a week.”

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A Sainsbury’s spokesman said that it had not received any other complaints of this nature but would carry out a thorough investigation.

They said: “The safety of our products is our highest priority and all of our products go through rigorous checks, including a metal detection system.

“We are in contact with the customer and will work closely with our supplier to fully investigate.”