Woman finds dead lizard in her beer

A woman from Christchurch in New Zealand was horrified to discover a decomposing lizard languishing in her beer after she had almost finished the bottle.

(Photo Credit: Facebook: Donna Metcalfe).

Donna Metcalfe posted a photo on the official Pure Blonde Facebook page which appears to show a small, dead lizard lying at the bottom of her drink.

She accompanied her photo with the following comment: ‘Thanks for the dead lizard at the bottom of my beer! What are your quality controls? You will be hearing from the media outlets in my country very soon!’

Pure Blonde, founded in 2004, is marketed as ‘Australia’s first low carb beer.’ The company produces an ‘ultra low carb lager’, a ‘premium mid lager’ and a cider.

The ultra low carb lager claims to have 80% less carbohydrates than regular beer whilst the premium mid lager reportedly has 50% less calories than wine per millilitre.

As reported by stuff.co.nz, Metcalfe was watching television with her husband when the incident took place.

“I was drinking it [the bottle] and not paying any attention, and something touched my mouth. It looked like a little baby lizard, and I instantly felt really sick and thought ‘oh, you’ve got to be joking me’.”

Worried that she could get food poisoning, Metcalfe rang the National Poison Centre immediately after she discovered the rotting reptile.

Responding to the complaint, Sabine Wolff, corporate affairs advisor at Carlton & United Breweries (where Pure Blonde beers are brewed), gave the following statement: “We have reached out to the consumer to understand the facts and check to see if she has any health issues.”

“CUB is undertaking a thorough internal investigation of the issue to determine the facts”.

Metcalfe is not the first to suffer the effects of animals secreted in bottles of booze. In 2013, a woman in northern China had to receive hospital treatment after a snake preserved in rice wine jumped out of the bottle and bit her hand.

Carlton & United Breweries is a subsidiary of Foster’s Group which is owned by brewing giant AB InBev.

The Facebook post is not showing up in the visitor post section of Pure Blonde’s page. It remains unclear as to whether the investigation has reached a conclusion.

Carlton & United Breweries has been contacted for further comments.