ALDI, the beloved discount supermarket chain, has recently found itself in the midst of a ‘fowl’ controversy.

A disgruntled customer, who was taken aback by an unexpected feathery find, took to the popular ALDI Mums Facebook group to share her dissatisfaction with ALDI's chicken wings.

This incident has sparked a heated debate among the group members, leading to divided opinions.

The customer shared a photo of the chicken wing, still adorned with feathers, and questioned the quality control of ALDI's poultry products.

'Is it only my luck,' she wrote.

A customer shared a photo of her chicken wings with feathers from ALDI. Image source: Facebook/ALDI Mums.

'It's the second time our wings are not clean. Is this just an ALDI thing?'

The image of the feathered chicken wing elicited a variety of reactions from the online community, ranging from lighthearted jests to expressions of genuine disgust.

While some group members found humour in the situation, many others were less amused.

One user jokingly said: 'It's alive!'

Others commented 'Yuck!' and 'Ewwww!', with some advising the original poster to discard the wings entirely.

However, ALDI is not the only supermarket where customers have encountered feathered surprises.

Several group members shared similar experiences from other stores, including Coles.

'It's not just ALDI. I had to partially defeather my whole chicken from Coles a few weeks back,' one commenter revealed.

The discussion quickly evolved into a broader conversation about the quality control of poultry products across various retailers.

Some members attempted to downplay the concern, stating that feathers on chicken products are a common occurrence and not exclusive to ALDI.

'It happens everywhere,' one user commented.

However, the original poster remained unimpressed, saying, 'It is just super disgusting as feathers are very dirty, and [they have] now been in contact with the marinade.'

Interestingly, not everyone shared in the revulsion.

Some users dismissed the issue as trivial, suggesting that the simple solution was to pluck the feathers out.

'Can't believe the people carrying on how gross it is. It's a feather,' one person remarked.

'Happy to eat processed food and chicken nuggets, but gee, give me a feather, and I just can't deal.'

'Just pull them out before you cook them!' one advised.

While another added: 'It's not hard.'

However, this sparked a counterargument, with several group members suggesting that customers shouldn't bear the responsibility of such tasks.

'All the people saying “just pull them out, it's not hard”, look at the bigger picture,' one user argued.

'She shouldn't have to pull them out because they shouldn't be there if the job was done properly in the first place!'

It is understood that ALDI encourages any customer to provide feedback directly via their help centre, so they can investigate the matter. Customers can return any product they are not satisfied with for a full refund or replacement.

Key Takeaways

• An ALDI customer shared a photo of unclean chicken wings with feathers, sparking a debate among members of the social media group.
• The issue of feathers on chicken wings appeared to be a common complaint among shoppers, not exclusive to ALDI.
• The online community provided mixed reactions, with some dismissing the issue as minor and others expressing disgust and calling for better quality control.

So, what's your take on this feathered fiasco, dear readers? Have you ever encountered a similar situation? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

 

[Thedutchess]

I feel it’s not the supermarkets fault as it’s already packaged when ours sent to them…. but I would report it to the place where it was originally processed. Bring it to their attention.

 

[stkilda1966]

Have on the odd occasion had feathers but just cooked them anyway. Still here alive and well. Les

 

[OldmanBen]

People need to realise that suppliers need to operate greater automation to increase supply but often automation does not always produce "super-quality" products. A manually plucked chicken (i.e. plucked by a human) is often cleaner but because it's done by a human, it's much slower and therefore, the output per person is a lot less than a automated plucking. In business, to cut down on production costs and therefore reduce the sell cost, automation is critical. So if people want a super clean chook then you'll probably buy one that was manually plucked, and more than likely more expensive. If you want a relatively inexpensive chook then you may have to do the "final" clean before you cook the chook.

 

[Nichola]

It's common in chicken. More frustrating is buying a pork belly with all the hair still there. No it doesn't burn off in the oven and it takes hours to pull them out with tweezers

I remember a friend of mine burning them off with a cigarette lighter.

 

[MariaG]

For heaven’s sake, just pull the feathers out! At least you don’t have to pluck the whole chook - like we did as kids to help mum.

Yeah. We were part of the chicken plucking brigade. I had the job of burning off the little fluffy ones over a dish of metho set aflame.
Have to say, the picture makes it look pretty gruesome. It looks more like something that crawled out of the swamp.

 

[patty59pw]

I remember a friend of mine burning them off with a cigarette lighter.

I freak out about the root of the hair. Call me weird but hey it's a put off for me

 

[Ezzy]

I am at a loss to understand why some people want their 5 minutes of fame by advertising this oversight by the chicken company. When l had a problem with a packet of frozen berries l did what most people do, contacted the producer directly. Much easier than a rant on Facebook or anywhere else. The complainant, as in this case, ends up looking damn stupid. Just a storm in a teacup!

Are we becoming more Americanized every day? Why not go a bit further & sue the company for this oversight!