Christmas dinner ruined for families thanks to GREEN Tesco turkeys

Tesco has been accused of ruining Christmas, thanks to their off-colour turkeys.

Two families say their dreams of tucking into a tasty meat treat turned into a vomit-inducing nightmare thanks to dud turkeys purchased from the supermarket giant.

The green meat is thought to be caused by a degenerative muscle condition in turkeys commonly referred to as Green Muscle Disease, although it is not harmful.

It occurs after the inner breast muscle of the bird develops in a way that prevents blood supply from circulating, resulting in the green discolouration.

Shoppers had paid as much as £30 for the turkeys in Tesco, and took to social media to express their alarm at the off-colour product.

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Mum-of-four Rachael James, 33, paid “about £23” for her frozen turkey from Tesco in Whitchurch, Shropshire, and was mortified to find green flesh when carving it on Christmas Day.

She said: “When I got it out of the packaging it seemed to be okay but once I had cooked it and started to carve it in front of everyone I noticed that there was something wrong with the centre of the turkey.

“It put everyone off their meal, none of us felt like we could eat any of the turkey. It ruined the meal completely.

“Tesco have offered a refund of the price of the turkey which I am unhappy about. I will never buy my turkey from Tesco again and will now consider going else where for my weekly shop.

“After everyone had gone home I investigated the green mass and discovered that it went from one side of the breast meat to the other. It was disgusting.”

Steve Parsons, 26, and his partner Emma, 28, were enjoying Christmas lunch with 10 other family members including four children, at their home in Lyme Regis, Dorset.

Steve, who works as a window cleaner, said: “It put a downer on the whole day.

“Luckily one of my friends kindly had a joint of beef that we could use which meant the day wasn’t completely ruined. My mother-in-law was basting the turkey all night.”

The Christmas turkey was purchased for “around £30” from the superstore’s branch in Seaton, Devon, two days before the big day.

Steve added: “The reaction of everyone around the dinner table was quite simply, ‘yuck’. It didn’t smell but it was really rubbery.

“Luckily Tesco have been good with their response and have given us a £75 gift voucher and two turkey crowns.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “There’s nothing more important than the quality of the food we sell so we were concerned to hear this has happened.

“We’ve offered a refund to the customers affected and will inform our supplier.”