A woman who was told she had a serious bowel disease found out six years later it was a Heinz sauce packet stuck in her small intestine that was actually the root of the problem.

Doctors at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough diagnosed the 41-year-old patient with Crohn's disease – a condition that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive system – after she experienced abdominal pain and bloating lasting up to three days, the British Medical Journal reports.

Following her "worsening symptoms," the woman was eventually taken in for surgery, when the unexpected discovery was made. The surgeons found an inflammatory mass containing two pieces of plastic packaging bearing the word 'Heinz' in the wall of her small intestine.

The woman said she had no recollection of eating a meal involving the plastic product, which was believed to be from a sauce packet.

Once removed, her symptoms disappeared almost instantly and she showed no sign of Crohn's disease in her follow-up appointments in the months after the operation.

The BMJ said this is the first report of a rare case of a synthetic plastic packaging causing a perforation mimicking Crohn's disease. It added that in over 80% of cases, foreign bodies will pass through the body spontaneously, with only 1% requiring surgery.

Find out more about Crohn's disease and symptoms at nhs.uk.

Katie Frost Senior Editor Katie Frost is Deputy News Editor in the Newsroom, covering lifestyle, travel, food, celebrity and royals-related content.

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