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A woman in Singapore was shocked to find seven lead pellets inside the Chinese pomfret she bought for her family's Chinese New Year meal, reported Shin Min Daily News.

According to the photos shared by her husband, surnamed Xie (hanyu pinyin), the weights appeared rusted.

Nevertheless, Xie's family still decided to enjoy the fish as part of their festive feast eventually. Fortunately, none of them felt unwell afterwards.

What happened

Speaking to Shin Min, Xie explained that his wife purchased the pomfret at the Sheng Siong supermarket near Edgefield Plains in Punggol on Jan. 21.

He said they bought the fish to celebrate their son's birthday on Jan. 22, which coincided with the first day of Chinese New Year.

The couple's daughter would also be visiting them that day.

On Jan. 22, Xie and his wife decided to prepare a steamed Chinese pomfret for the occasion.

However, when his wife sliced open the fish, Xie said she discovered seven metal weights inside.

"When we saw [the weights], we were shocked, and we cleaned the fish's cavity thoroughly. In the end, we decided to eat the fish, and none of us felt unwell afterwards," Xie recounted.

Despite the unpleasant surprise, Xie told Shin Min he did not believe that the supermarket was at fault.

"After all, the metal pellets only weighed around 100g. Sheng Siong would not need to cheat us for this small amount," he explained.

Xie said he hopes the supermarket can find out more about the source of the pellets from the seafood supplier.

Additionally, he also said he hopes the public pays more attention when buying fish and ensure it is gutted thoroughly before cooking.

Sheng Siong's response

In response, a spokesperson from Sheng Siong denied the supermarket inserted the weights inside the fish: "We are thankful that the customer informed us about the incident via the media."

"At Sheng Siong, our customers' trust in us is of utmost importance. We would like to assure everyone that we did not insert these lead weights inside the fish."

The spokesperson also told Shin Min that they would be sending a letter to the supplier that is responsible for procuring the fish.

"If any such activities [such as inserting weights inside the fish] are uncovered, we would end the partnership immediately," the spokesperson added.

Similar incident posted on Reddit

The pomfret mentioned above did not appear to be the only fish that came with weights inside.

In a Reddit thread by user sarpysarpy, it was claimed that three "metallic and pretty heavy" pellets were retrieved from a pomfret bought from Chinatown recently.

While many commenters said they believed the pellets were likely fishing weights, they disagreed on how foreign objects ended up inside the fish.

Some speculated the fishmongers might have stuffed the weights inside the fish to make them heavier, while others wondered whether the fish ate them by accident.

The general advice was for the person who bought the fish to refrain from eating it as it is not known how long the weights have been inside, and the fish might have already been contaminated.

Top images via Shin Min Daily News