The 2021 Rotten Turkey Scandal Ruined Numerous Christmas Dinners

Let’s hope Christmas goes better for these families in the U.K. than it did in 2021. A couple years back, numerous Christmas dinners were ruined after a main course, turkey, ended up being “rotten” for many families. According to Wales Online, several supermarket chains inadvertently sold rotten turkeys, leaving many families hungry that year. According to outrage on X (then known as Twitter), grocery store chains Aldi, Tesco, and Marks and Spencer sold spoiled meat and people were fuming. These families clearly didn’t have a holly, jolly Christmas because of the meal flop.

Instead of getting a fresh bird, many say their turkeys wreaked and were shriveled up in size. Claire Woods tweeted at Aldi, writing, “This turkey says it feeds 10 it’s feeding no one it’s rotten!!!! Bought on Tuesday evening and refrigerated since. Husbands fuming.” Emma Durcan followed suit, writing to M&S on Twitter: “Brilliant Turkey crown smells rotten [and] off thanks [Marks & Spencer] that’s dinner ruined.”

V Eade has faced similar disappointment with Mark and Spencer, Tweeting them: “Bleurgh… thanks [Marks & Spencer] for a rotten, foul-smelling turkey allegedly good until 27 December.” Emily Farndon tweeted at Tesco about her bird, writing: “Absolutely fuming thanks so very much for a ruined Christmas day removed our Turkey crown that I brought yesterday from its wrapper to a horrible pungent smell, the Turkey is off so thanks a bunch.”

Tesco has advised Fardon in their Twitter response to “take the packaging and receipt back to the customer service desk when it’s open and convenient for you.” Tesco, Aldi, and Marks and Spencer were all contacted for comment on the situation.

An Aldi spokesperson commented, saying: “We are sorry that a small number of our products did not meet our usual high standards. If customers are not completely satisfied with their purchase, they can return items to their local store with proof of purchase for a full refund.”

The supermarkets also tweeted numerous apologies to those complaining. They encouraged customers to get in touch so their complaints could be resolved. It’s a good thing refunds were in order — but too bad dinner sucked for many. Here’s to hoping 2023’s turkeys are fresh and far from rotten.