Brits angry after turkeys went bad before Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner was spoiled for some in the UK this year as many turkeys in the supermarkets went rotten before December 25.

Brits immediately took to Twitter to share their frustration about many markets that left them without the bird.

One person on Christmas Eve (24 December) wrote: "Literally what the hell is this…. Just defrosted my Turkey from @LidlGB … Christmas ruined. It's Xmas eve… this is actually a joke. Not only is there no meat the house smells of rotten meat. Not acceptable. #christmasruined #lidl #turkeyoffonxmaseve.”

Lidl was one of the food shops to face scrooge-like energy from people online. Another person called out Booth's Supermarket turkeys, noting that they were "slimy" and "smelt grim."

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"Yep had exactly this from a £50 @BoothsCountry turkey on Christmas morning. Opened direct from the fridge to cook, and it smelt grim, slimy and not suitable.

"Sad times when costs go up, but standards come down."

A third person called out Sainsbury's for "ruining Christmas" with the rotten turkeys, leading them to eat "beans on toast."

They wrote: "What the bloody hell @sainsburys. My turkey is rotten. Christmas ruined. Kids are crying. We now have to have beans on toast. An absolute disgrace #Turkey #Christmas.”

Sainsbury's replied to this user in the comments section.

"Hey, sorry about your turkey. Please pop me over your turkey's barcode using the link below, along with your full address, Nectar card number, and the store you picked this up from? I'll look into this for you now," the supermarket chain wrote.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury's also told Indy100 the following: "We understand our customers enjoy turkey at Christmas, and we are very sorry to hear that for a very tiny number of people, we did not meet our usual high standards. We are apologising and investigating immediately. We would ask anyone with similar concerns to return their product to one of our stores to be refunded and for this to be investigated further."

A couple of weeks before Christmas, someone even called out Tescos over their "standards" for poultry.

"@Tesco took this out [of] the oven. Rotten! Ruined our roast dinner. Are your standards dropping?? Hope your Christmas Turkeys are not like this!" they wrote in a post from 11 December.

A Tesco spokesperson also told shared a comment with Indy100 about people's turkey complaints.

"We’re really sorry to hear about this. We know that turkey is an important part of Christmas for many of our customers and we take great care when selecting and preparing our turkeys. We would ask anyone who is not completely happy to return the product to one of our stores so we can investigate further, and issue a full refund," they said.

Although some people's Christmas dinners didn't go according to plan, others relished in the bird drama online.

One wrote: "Seeing angry tweets because people have bought rotten turkeys has been this year's Christmas Twitter highlight.'"

"'Rotten alien' turkeys ruin Xmas for fuming families left eating beans on toast.

"My Turkey Crown From #Iceland Was Succulent, Tasty & Perfect!" another added while someone else simply suggested: "Buy from your local butcher!"

Indy100 contacted Lidl and Booth's Country for comment.

Updated on 26 December to add comment from a Tesco spokesperson.

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