A Perth father has issued a warning to other parents after making a shocking discovery of a substance he believed was methamphetamine in a bowl of supermarket ice-cream he had just given to his five year old son.
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The man, who did not wish to be named, said he purchased the tub of Coles brand vanilla ice-cream on November 11, and sat down to have a bowl on Saturday evening.
"[I noticed] the substance about five minutes into my son eating it, when he told me there was 'glass' in his ice-cream," he said.
"My first reaction was shock and then I examined the shard, and realised it didn't quite have the structure of most glass, so I firmly pressed it between my fingers and a little piece broke off.
"I then licked the little piece, as I thought it could just be crystallised sugar, or some other food additive not mixed properly, but I was shocked [to find it had] a very chemical taste," he said.
"I cannot be 100 per cent certain what the substance was, as I didn't have the tools to properly test it."
However the man, who told WAtoday he was a three-year clean recovered drug addict, said he "knew what meth tastes like".
"It has a very similar taste and structure as methamphetamine so I am led to think that's what it is," he said.
"I will admit that I could be wrong as to what the substance is, although the high chemical taste still leads me to think it's an unwanted contaminate within the ice cream," he said.
The man said he sought advice from Health Direct and Fiona Stanley Hospital, and monitored his son closely for five hours after he can eaten the ice-cream.
He said he did not blame Coles for the mishap, as the product was properly sealed and the supermarket wasn't responsible for its manufacture.
"The manufacturing company are the ones who will need to investigate this further to find out how it happened... all I hope is the manufacturer take this information and do the best they can to ensure there isn't a repeat of this and any other possible products that could hold contaminants are removed from sale."
The man also issued a stern warning for potential purchasers.
"Don't eat it or feed it to anyone, leave it in your freezer for now until this can be sorted with Coles and the manufacturer.
"Don't panic or make a huge fuss about it as hype doesn't help the situation- and I'm sure Coles and the manufacturer will get on top of this as soon as possible," he said.
Coles has been contacted for comment.
