Co-op chocolate Easter bunny recall: Mum 'feared for daughter'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-38825842

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A mum whose daughter found a battery in a chocolate Easter bunny has said she feared the three-year-old could have died.

A criminal investigation has begun after the alleged tampering incident at a Co-op in Nottingham on Saturday.

In December, the grocery chain issued a recall of 165,000 chocolate Santas after button batteries were found.

A Co-op spokesman said some shoppers had returned chocolate bunnies since the recall of 3,000 items was issued.

Tammy-Louise Dundon said her daughter Sophia Wood bit the ears off the bunny before tipping out a single-cell battery.

"If she hadn't have been able to tell me that she'd found it, obviously she would have swallowed it," she said.

"She would have been in pain and I wouldn't have known why.

"I would have taken her to hospital, they wouldn't have known what they were looking for and it could have ended so badly."

'Deadly' risk

Last year doctors said button batteries posed a "deadly" risk to toddlers.

A spokesman for Co-op said posters had been put up in stores warning about the Easter bunnies.

"We have had some public response but we think quite a lot will have been consumed over the last few days," he said.

"We go to great lengths to make sure our products are safe. These cases are extremely unusual."

No other reports had been received, he added.

Nottinghamshire Police said it was aware and was investigating.

Customers have been urged to return Easter bunny figures to stores for a full refund.

Other product recalls

The latest seasonal chocolate recall comes just a month after two alleged tampering incidents prompted Co-op to issue a warning about its chocolate Santas.

Although the bunnies are made by the same supplier, Co-op said it had the "utmost confidence" in the firm and it was "pure speculation" to link the two.

Derbyshire-based chocolate-maker Thorntons recalled thousands of its Santas last month, which were feared to contain pieces of plastic.

Exploding phones prompted a worldwide recall of 2.5 million Samsung Galaxy Note 7s last year.

Replacement devices started to catch fire, leading the South Korean manufacturer to end production of the handset.

More than 250,000 Vauxhall Zafiras were recalled twice last year after some vehicles' engines burst into flames.

In 2013, "beef" lasagnes were found to contain horsemeat.

Findus withdrew thousands of its products during the scandal, as did Tesco and Nestle.

It led to a big drop in sales of products like frozen burgers and ready meals.