Angry Asda customer finds alcohol in profiteroles despite filling labelled as ‘creamy’

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A man from Norwich was left fuming after finding that the profiteroles he had bought for his family from Asda contained alcohol.

Despite being marketed as a standard version of the cream-filled dessert, Richard Farrar was shocked to find that the pastry-filled puffs contained what tasted like a cream liquor.

Aside from being listed in the ingredients list on the back, there was no clear indication on the packaging that the product was made with alcohol.

Since The Independent got in touch with the supermarket chain for comment, Asda revealed it will be changing the product’s packaging to reflect its alcoholic contents.

During the Christmas period, Farrar had gone into the Hall Road, Norwich branch of Asda with his sons to pick up a packet of the dessert for his children to have after dinner which he said looked “deceivingly like normal profiteroles”.

He explained that his five-year-old and one-year-old sons demolished the tasty treats very quickly, however, he was enraged when he soon realised the desserts contained alcohol.

“Nothing was thought of it until my 18-year-old daughter went to finish what was left and brought it to our attention that they weren’t normal profiteroles and she thought they contained alcohol, something like Baileys,” Farrar told The Independent.

“My wife tasted the filling and confirmed that it tasted like alcohol rather than cream,” he added.

“I double checked the packaging to make sure I had bought the right ones and checked for any mention that this dessert contained alcohol which it did not anywhere on the packet.”

'They were on the usual cream deserts shelf' (Richard Farrar)

After examining the ingredients list, Farrar realised that the dessert had included alcohol in its small print ingredients list, however, he believes this should have been a more visible inclusion, particularly given that he gave the dessert to his young children.

“I then checked online only to find out that there is a warning only, this isn’t helpful though if you buy in store," he added.

(Richard Farrar (Richard Farrar)

"This is especially bed for those with children, or even for people who are recovering alcoholics or have bad reactions to alcohol.”

Despite complaining via Asda’s customer services helpline, Farrar explained that he was constantly referred on to different people and struggled to find a conclusive answer from anybody on the Asda team as to why the product had been marketed in this way.

Comments in Asda’s online review section reveal that Farrar was not the only disgruntled profiterole customer, with many calling for the product’s alcoholic content to be made clearer.

“I was disappointed when this arrived as it contains alcohol,” wrote one customer.

“I looked back on the app and you have to scroll really far down to see that intimation. I had ordered it for pudding for my five-year-old and her friend!”

“Why would anybody put alcohol in a chocolate based dessert,” added another.

“Especially when the 'contains alcohol' logo is on the opposite side of the packet to the description.

“Waste of money in my opinion - the lot went in the bin. Very strong taste of alcohol.”

In response to this article, Asda provided the following statement:

“We welcome all customer feedback so we can continuously improve our offer for our customers.

"Having reviewed the packaging of this product, we have decided to increase the size of the alcohol content message to be more visible for customers, along with improving the messaging on our website.

"We would like to thank our customers for bringing this to our attention and apologise to anyone who feels they were misinformed.”