HEALTH authorities are investigating how a dead mouse ended up in a rice paper roll bought at a Gold Coast supermarket.



A Robina woman told the Gold Coast Bulletin she bit into the mouse after taking two bites of the freshly made roll she purchased from Woolworths at Broadbeach.

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Her daughter Emilie Petrusic immediately went with her mother to the store on Sunday to report the rodent roll to staff.

Yesterday Woolworths said the roll might have been tampered with by someone not connected with the store.

media_camera A Robina woman claims she bit into this dead mouse found inside a rice paper roll. NEWS: TRANSPLANT HOPE FOR BRAVE CANCER PATIENT KATE MAYOR TOM TATE BACKS SPRINGBROOK CABLE WAY PROJECT

Both Gold Coast Health and Gold Coast City Council officers said they would not comment on the legitimacy of the case until it was further ­investigated.

But a Woolworths statement said advice from Queensland Health and council investigations was they believed the mouse did not enter the roll at Woolworths.

“If it was in fact inside the roll, that happened after it left the store,” the statement said.

“Our investigations will continue but based on that advice and our own investigations and that of the health authorities we have no reason to believe the contamination happened in our store.”

Gold Coast Health and the council both denied providing conclusive advice to Woolworths and said their investigations were ongoing.

The family, who contacted the Bulletin yesterday, questioned how a whole mouse could end up in a handmade roll.

media_camera A dead mouse was allegedly found inside this rice paper roll.

Late yesterday the customer was getting blood tests ordered by a doctor because of concerns she swallowed part of the mouse.

Ms Petrusic, who has been following up the incident with authorities because her mother is too distressed, said her mum tasted fur on her second bite and realised it was attached to something larger.

“It was absolutely terrible — I’ve never experienced something like this ..” she said.

“It’s like it’s been planted because they hand-make those things — how can a whole animal be inside it?

“She was mortified and I was fuming. I went straight down there.”

Ms Petrusic said staff were shocked and gave a refund. She kept the product in the freezer until Gold Coast Health retrieved it yesterday for testing.

Public health boss Dr Paul Van Buynder said the investigation was ongoing.

“We really can’t say whether this is real or not at this time but we will continue with this process,” he said.

“We’ve received a complaint, we’ve picked up the specimen and we’re interviewing people.”

A council spokeswoman said they had received a complaint. “Queensland Health has launched an investigation and city officers are assisting,” a spokeswoman said.

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