FELT LIKE DEATH: Phillip Keti says he will never be able to stomach corned beef again.

Corned beef has been forever fouled in the mind of Phillip Keti after a run-in with a rancid tin of Fijian-made produce.

The seemingly innocuous 340-gram Golden Country can entered the Huntly man's life yesterday after three days of Christmas excess and prior to sister Karen's tangi in Tauranga.

The 56-year-old sickness beneficiary will never forget it.

BEN CURRAN/Fairfax NZ RANCID: The tin of Golden Country corned beef in question.

At one point the diabetic recalled being on the roadside outside a Huntly medical centre, sweating, shaking and vomiting - crippled - when a good citizen spotted him.

"He came over and said: you don't look too well, mate. So I showed him the can [of corned beef] and he said: what; did you eat this crap? and I said: yeah."

It was 9am when Mr Keti handed over $5.50 to Hakanoa Dairy owner Jun Qiu and went home with the corned beef.

All signs pointed to typical quality - it wasn't past its used-by date and was "closed tight".

Mr Keti said he was in a rush and eyeing a quick and easy meal before his trip east.

He was in such a hurry that he whipped open the tin, smeared its contents across white bread and covered it with lettuce and more bread.

Then he took a bite. A few bites.

"All of a sudden when I bit through it, it had this foul taste," Mr Keti recalled with the tin open in front of him.

"But I didn't take any notice - I was having a cup of tea, and rushing, then all of a sudden my stomach started turning."

The vomit came and came; it was unstoppable, he said.

He felt like death.

Mr Keti initially asked Winz for help before seeking medical attention and, finally, an ambulance.

After an $85 trip to Waikato Hospital and treatment, Mr Keti was officially diagnosed with food poisoning and says he'll never let corned beef passed his lips again.

Nor will Mr Qiu be selling it.

The can came from Foods Pacific Ltd, part of the Foods Pacific Group, near Suva.

The company website says the export brand is made with "premium beef and lamb cuts" sourced from "quality" Australian and New Zealand farms.

They were unavailable for comment yesterday.