Mom Claims Daughter Choked on 'Zipper' Hidden in Walmart Pie

By Amanda Thomason December 16, 2019 at 2:02pm

When you take a bite of pie, there are some things you expect to taste: flaky crust, spiced apples and general sweet deliciousness.

Unless you’re chomping down on the tin it came in, you shouldn’t be encountering any metal — but that’s exactly what one mom is claiming her daughter nearly swallowed when biting into a piece of pie.

The sweet in question was a small apple pie from Walmart, and the foreign object pictured in the “after” photos is a metal zipper pull — something you definitely wouldn’t want cruising through your digestive tract.

Mom Kelly Carpenter Marek posted the photos and a short explanation on Facebook on Dec. 7.

“So I went to the north Utica Walmart and bought some pies and as my daughter was eating one she started choking and we found out there was a zipper in the apple pie,” she wrote.

Thankfully, Marek was able to deal with the situation level-headedly and her daughter is reportedly fine after the incident.

“We found it when my kids were eating a snack and my 10 year old started choking on something,” she later explained to WFRG-FM.

She called Walmart to tell them of her discovery, and while they initially responded with seeming urgency, Marek was unhappy with their lack of follow-up.

“I was told they were going to take the pies off the shelves, call the main office and then call me right back,” she told the radio station.

“They never did call me back and they didn’t take them off the shelf either. We don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

The photos of the alleged choked-on zipper pull show it nestled in the pie tin and atop some fragile-looking pieces of pie — perhaps it was arranged to recreate the scene.

Walmart has said it’s looking into the issue.

“We are committed to providing our customers the quality products they expect, and we take this seriously,” a spokesperson told the New York Post. “We’re looking into this with the manufacturer and in the meantime out of an abundance of caution have removed the product from the shelves at this store.”

The pies are not made at Walmart, but are baked and distributed by “Table Talk Pies,” based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They’ve also released a statement concerning the incident.

“Every single pie that is produced in our facility goes through this stringent process,” the statement they gave the Post reads. “That being said, we take the claim from one of our consumers very seriously and are currently conducting an exhaustive investigation into this matter.”

The manufacturer also got in touch with Marek to request the evidence, such as it is.

“They contacted me this morning and I’m shipping the pie with the zipper to them for further investigation,” Marek explained.

Submit a Correction →