It appears to have been deliberately tampered with.
A mum in the UK is urging other parents to be vigilant when purchasing toys after she allegedly discovered a knife within the packaging of a doll she picked up for her toddler.
Haleemah Patel, from Blackburn, claims she noticed a Tiny Tears Classic Doll from her local Aldi on Monday while doing her weekly shop and thought it would make a “lovely gift” for her two-year-old daughter.
However, the mum says she was “shocked and amazed” to see a knife inside the doll’s box after it had been tampered with.
Speaking to Lancs Live, she said: “I picked the toy up, the outer packaging was damaged on one side. Looking at the toy my attention fell on a metal object. I was shocked and amazed to see a knife inside.
“I had to look twice to make sure it was a genuine knife. I couldn’t make sense why a knife would be part of a toy.”
The mum said she immediately informed a member of staff and told him to take it to his manager. She didn’t see the member of staff again during her shop after he took the doll.
Haleemah said it was “sad if someone’s put that inside deliberately” and that it “could have gone home to a small child”.
She now hopes to make parents aware of potentially dangerous tampering when buying products for their kids.
“I would like to raise attention to parents out there to be vigilant when purchasing toys and check to the contents inside as this could possibly have been fatal if my daughter had picked the toy up,” she added.
An Aldi spokesperson told Lancs Live that the retailer immediately took the doll off sale when Haleemah made the discovery and alerted staff.
“We can confirm that it is an isolated case where the packaging appears to have been deliberately tampered with,” they added.
“Our supplier has confirmed that the product passes through highly sensitive metal detectors before leaving their factory and the packaging could not have been compromised during the manufacturing process.”
The chain said there is no indication any other products were affected.
