Christmas Day has been ruined for festive shoppers as they claim to have purchased rotten supermarket turkeys.

Some have reported finding their Christmas meat off or rotten, leaving them desperately attempting to save their family’s lunch, the Mirror reports.

One Sainsbury’s customer took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to tell the supermarket their Christmas was ruined. They said, reports The Star: “Well done Sainsbury’s @sainsburys Christmas is officially ruined! I’ve just got the turkey out of the fridge and it’s rotten! It smells so bad I can’t believe you could sell this? #christmasruined”

The turkey had a black section
The turkey had a black section (Image: X/@KinkyGinger23)

An image of an uncooked turkey, with an ominous looking blackening section, accompanied the post. The label, which shows it cost £14.36 and was supposed to serve seven people, was dated as to use by Friday, December 27.’ Karen from Sainsbury’s was quick to reply and posted: “Hi There. Thanks for getting in touch. I’m sorry there’s an issue with your turkey. Can you let me know If this was bought in store or online please? I’ll look into this for you. Thanks, Karen.”

Another unhappy Sainsbury’s customer posted a picture of his £13.10 bird, supposedly serving up to nine people, which also has a use by date of December 27. He posted: “@sainsburys thanks for ruining Christmas. Bought this turkey crown YESTERDAY from your Sury Basin store in Kingston Upon Thames. Straight home to our fridge. Opening tonight to prep for tomorrow and it has gone off. Did not smell good. Please tell me how you fix this for us.”

Tesco customers were also having issues. One poster said: “Turkey is off!! I guess it’s pizza. Hoping for a no quibble, full refund Boxing Day.” While a second added: “Looks like I’m guessing the cooking time of my @Tesco turkey today as their packs do not have exact weight or cooking time printed on front as normal.

“Back of pack says refer to front for cooking times..trying to weigh a turkey on small kitchen scales is fun! Merry Christmas!”

Lidl also had a problem, according to the Daily Star, with a customer claiming their medium turkey crown was “rancid” having bought it for £17.17 from a local Lidl branch on Friday. They posted: “Just a heads up as I’d hate for anyone open theirs up Christmas morning and there be no shops open selling turkeys. I’ve just gone to wash and marinate my turkey ready for Wednesday and it was fully RANCID inside! Smells awful and the meat had turned green!

“Bought fresh from Lidl Woodhouse Lane on Friday, dated 26th Dec and been stored at the back of my fridge since bought so there’s absolutely no reason for it to be off. And there’s me thinking buying fresh would be better than frozen this year.”

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