Asda apologises after four own-brand pregnancy tests give woman false results

The retailer claims that the test is 'over 99 per cent accurate'

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Asda has come under fire after one customer has claimed that four of the supermarket giant’s own-brand pregnancy tests returned false positive results.

Michaela, 25, and her partner had been trying to conceive for weeks and was shocked to learn that she was not in fact pregnant, as the tests had indicated, when she went for a private scan weeks later.

The retailer has issued an apology in light of the claims, adding that its tests comply with legislation and boast a 99 per cent accuracy rate.

However, several of the reviews of the test on the supermarket’s website claim that it also gave false positive results, with many rating the product one out of five stars.

"We’re really sorry to hear [Michaela] feels she had a bad experience with us,” an Asda spokesperson said.

“We want our customers to trust our products and ensure all our pregnancy test comply with strict legislation and all batches are quality tested.

"We will not be issuing a recall on this product."

Speaking to Plymouth Live, Michaela explained that the incident left her feeling deeply disappointed.

After taking two of Asda’s tests, she proceeded to take two Clearblue pregnancy tests, which both revealed negative results.

She subsequently took another two Asda tests and two more Clearblue ones, with the former revealing positive results while the latter came up as negative again.

“My mind was all over the place. I called the doctors and made a midwife appointment. I didn't really know what was happening,” she said.

"I had to wait a week to see the midwife and when I did she said getting a false positive was extremely rare and that there was no point in testing my blood."

It wasn’t until Michaela went in for an 11 week scan that she was able to have a sonogram which revealed she was not in fact pregnant.

"It's so embarrassing it's happened, and I don't want it to happen to other women," she said.

According to the NHS, the majority of home pregnancy tests are accurate and reliable, so long as they are taken correctly.

However, some of the reviews on Asda’s site have described the retailer's offering as “useless”, with one customer claiming that the results were hard to read and gave her “false hope” that she was pregnant when she wasn’t.

“I bought two lots of this test and out of the four, three were faulty,” said another reviewer of the tests, which cost £3.50 for a pack of two.

“I’m off out to buy a more expensive and hopefully more reliable test.”