Yesterday while eating lunch I cut my mouth on a 1/2" piece of glass that came from a can of Sam's Club Daily Chef brand tuna.

See glass picture HERE.

See can dates HERE.

Sams club just told me to go back to the store I bought it and didn't even ask me if I was ok or say sorry that I was hurt when I wrote them and said I was hurt by it. Unfortunately the FDA and other organizations are closed until Tuesday and I will pursue it further then. Until then, please check your pantries. It's quite a sharp piece of glass and it could have been far worse.

If you are on FaceBook and wish to share the post, I made it public so it can be seen. You can find it Here.

I'm just trying to prevent others from injury.

Ana

That's terrible.
How bad is that cut? Hope you're not in pain.

Wow, Ana, that's horrible! Hope you heal quickly! Thanks for the warning!

Wow that is scary. Thanks for the heads up Ana and I hope the company steps up so that you don't have to take thus further.

I first bit it and thought I broke a tooth and then it turned and stabbed me in the back of the mouth straight up causing me to spit it out. I was a second away from swallowing it. I can't feel much irritation anymore in the area it stabbed me so it's healing quick. It was more scary than anything! It was large enough to have caused significant damage had I swallowed it. I am sure if I had this in my can, others do too!

Very scary, Ana. I'm sure glad that it's healing quickly for you. I don't even want to think about what might have happened if you had swallowed it.

Outrageous.

holy moly !

so glad you didn't swallow that !

Yikes! That's one big hunk of glass. Wonder where it originated. I'd go past Sam's Club and go straight to the local news station to alert them of this. Who knows how many other pieces are out there? Interesting thought: I wonder if the glass was something the tuna ate and got embedded in his body? Would be interesting to know what type of glass it is. Lots of junk in the ocean.

I have to agree with Sorta... given the non-response you got from them, I'd also go straight to the local news station to get the word out. There needs to be a recall on this product.

That sounds a very dangerous happening without even considering the possibility of subsequent infection

AND a totally disgusting response to you having rightly reported it !!

I would notify the store And notify the press AND make contact with an appropriate "official" body.
[Here it would be the Trading Standards UK.]

Most importantly, I hope your mouth heals OK and you don't suffer amy horrible after effects, BrownEyedTigre

Thanks, all! FDA reopened from holiday this morning and called first thing. They are on the case!

Thanks, Ana, for taking the time to get the FDA involved. That was a big ole chunk of glass.

Edit: How is your mouth?

That's great to hear...

I left a message for them on SAturday and they called as soon as they received it this morning. They've called twice so far and I sent them all my photos. They reiterated what I had already told myself and that is to not listen to Sams Club response of going over to my local Sams Club. They said to make sure I keep everything exactly as I did and await their direction. They are very friendly and concerned.

Great news. I expect to hear an announcement on TV about the 'recall'. Too dangerous to just let this one go. Wow.

Glad to hear they are addressing this, Ana!

That sounds "spot on", BrownEyedTigre

Well, the mystery is solved and over. It is a substance called Struvite. It's a naturally forming crystal that occurs in canned seafood. They are usually much smaller and can be undetected, mine just happened to be larger and deadly in the mouth, but would have been dissolved quickly if swallowed. Mine was dissolved in about twenty minutes in vinegar. Who knew???

Wow, we learned something!

But what if you have been injured by this Struvite? Is there no way to avoid it forming?

http://www.nfpa-food.org/crystals-in-canned-seafood/

Mine was far harder and larger than normal and unusually sharp. They aren't liable for naturally occurring substances, it's not common and most people never encounter it. I am free to pursue it further with Sams club if I want but I'm sure it will just be a waste of time.

I'm sure you're right... such an odd and rare thing to happen!

I will contact their headquarters though to let them know how unhappy I was with the initial response telling me to go to the store without asking if I was ok or saying sorry. I think it should have been the first concern.

This is one of those "don't show, don't tell" substances. While the administrative office that regulate food additives are aware of the existence of the substance and classify it as non-harmful, you'll see their explanation of the how and why it forms is very ambiguous. That's because we can't necessarily regulate the way a company, who sources their product from questionable import vendors processes their product.

The quote "The components that form struvite occur in many of our foods and are valuable food elements..." is partially correct. It would also be correct to say that "the components that form struvite occur in many of our foods and are commonly found as a precipitate of urine." or more accurately, the precipitates formed that concentration of those minerals can be equated to poor processing plant/ship conditions or recycled water used in processing. I can't site a specific paper on this, because the big food industry is somewhat like the oil industry in that they are talented at misdirection. I can accurately state that struvite is commonly found in wastewater and untreated sewage. So, take that as you will...

Exactly, Trail... Even after working in the wastewater regulatory field for 20 years, I had never heard of struvite in sewage. Found LOTS of references to it in my little bit of searching.

I already decided I wasn't eating tuna anymore...this definitely makes that a sure thing.

Yup, the only reason I knew about it was from way back in my college years. My first major was Biology and I was working with the department head at that time trying to get them to build out an Environmental Biophysics major. It was too new and too specialized of a field and there were only a few text books, mostly from Europe that focused on it. To try and quell my frustration I started working with the Sierra Club on the Lake Michigan Estuary project. My assignment was researching bio-accumulation of foreign compounds around what would otherwise be considered non-hazardous industries; food processing for example. Without making the forum any more paranoid about the food we eat, let's just say you would definitely not want to go swimming or even wading in a run-off detention pond anywhere near a processing plant.



Canned tuna anyway - Fresh, frozen and wild caught and your OK. There are a few quality, domestic canners out there, but the cost is as much as fresh so it's a matter of convenience at that point.

Trail, in my career, the food processing facilities may have been "non-hazardous," but they caused the worst of the worst of fish kills. Their discharges - unless properly treated - made the discharge from a hog lagoon look like sweet water. In fact, I had a case where they were dumping food waste from cherry by-products into a hog lagoon and KILLED the hog lagoon!

Well, enough of that pleasant talk! Think I will be re-evaluating my consumption of canned tuna too!

I now know more about canned tuna than I ever wanted to know. Ugh. Amazing stuff that nobody ever tells us about 'things' that can be in food. I usually only make tuna salad sandwiches so if there was something 'big' in the can, I'd for sure find it in the mixing. What a strange event.

Thanks Ana for enlightening all of us by 'bolding going where no mouth has gone before.'

Sorta! I'm totally turned off to any tuna ever. I don't think I could stomach it anymore.

Wow...I didn't know there was a personal GB story behind this post! I am so happy you're OK Ana. I am thinking I will pay a lot more attention to what I find in a can, box, pouch, jar, carton or bag

"'m totally turned off to any tuna ever. I don't think I could stomach it anymore."

I have never liked Tuna so don't eat it - and after reading through this thread I will NEVER be changing my mind !!