A BRIT has called out Waitrose, stating she has “beef” with the supermarket after she was duped by the sneaky wording of one of their vegetarian sandwiches.
The anonymous customer had visited a branch of the retailer yesterday (THUR) to pick out a sandwich for her lunch.
In a rush, she grabbed what she thought was a salt beef and Emmental sandwich after a quick glimpse at the label.
However, upon preparing to tuck into her lunch, the disgusted shopper noticed that the sandwich’s contents were in fact salt beet and Emmental – the main ingredient being salted beetroot.
A snap of the offending packaging shows the sandwich behind the clear plastic window, its contents largely indiscernible.
Below the plastic window reads: “Waitrose & Partners Christmas. Salt beet and Emmental with mustard and gherkins.”
Given the labelling has only one letter different to the popular sandwich filling of salted beef, shoppers can be easily forgiven for mistaking the veggie option for its meat-filled counterpart.
The customer aired their grievances on social media last week, posting a photo of the sandwich with the caption: “Don’t mean to be dramatic, but this was possibly the worst day of my life.
“I quickly grabbed this on my way to an event thinking ‘Mm, salt beef and Emmental’, wasn’t I in for a nasty surprise?
“I now have serious beef with Waitrose, which is ironic as my sandwich certainly lacked it.”
“Who puts beetroot on sandwiches anyway? As the main ingredient. I thought better of Waitrose.”
The post has since racked up over 500 likes and hundreds of comments from users agreeing that the packaging was deceptive.
One user wrote: “Took me so long to realise what was wrong with it, I read salt beef over and over before realising it was a T.”
Another joked: “I’m vegetarian and that sandwich makes me sad.”
A third agreed: “I can guarantee vegetarians and vegans don’t want this either.”
Another said: “I read that label at least six times trying to see where it stated it was vegetarian before I realised. That’s just cruel.”
A fifth commented: “I did not understand this for a long time. Someone deserves sacking.”
Another wrote: “And since when did beetroot become ‘beet’? Isn’t that an American thing?”
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “It looks like we’ve caused some real beef here.
“While this sandwich is proving popular – especially with veggie customers – for a meatier flavour, we’d recommend our salt beef & mustard mayo, or our award-winning Christmas pigs under blankets sandwiches.
“We’ve worked hard on our Christmas range, so whatever the option, we’re confident we’ll beet the competition.”
