Each week, we round up the biggest stories in the international world of Aldi. Here’s what we’ve been reading:
United States: Woman Sues Aldi After Getting Burned by Exploding Turkey Burger
A woman from Wilkinsburg, Pa., is suing Aldi because she said a turkey burger exploded while she was cooking it and she was burned and scarred on her hands and forearms.
Gloria Besley filed the personal injury lawsuit stating that Aldi was negligent because it did not provide warnings about burn risks on its Kirkwood turkey burgers.
The lawsuit claims: “(Aldi) placed into the stream of commerce a defective product.”
The lawsuit says Besley followed the instructions for frying a turkey burger and placed a frozen patty in a small amount of cooking oil on a pre-heated skillet. That’s when the burger “exploded.”
Besley is seeking more than $35,000 in damages and may have “permanent loss of use of a bodily function” and “loss of the enjoyment of her usual duties,” according to the lawsuit.
Aldi could not be reached for comment.
Source: Trib Live
United States: Machete-Waving Man Dies After Being Shot by Police
A man with a machete who fled after he allegedly stole from a dollar store and then was shot by police in an Aldi store has died as a result of his gunshot wounds.
The incident happened on Feb. 19 in Randallstown, Md. A police officer was investigating a car crash near an Aldi store when an employee from a nearby Dollar Tree approached her about a man accused of shoplifting from the dollar store.
The suspect was later identified as David Oates, 24. When the officer attempted to approach Oates several times, he walked away and would not cooperate.
When more officers responded to the scene, Oates fled, and when one officer grabbed Oates’ arm, Oates pulled a machete from his jacket and swung it at the officer. Oates then went inside Aldi, still brandishing the machete. Officers told him to put down his weapon, but he repeatedly moved toward the officers. That’s when two officers fired their guns at Oates and hit his upper body.
Officers gave Oates first aid until EMS arrived and took him to a local hospital. Police reported on Wednesday, Feb. 20, that Oates had died as a result of his injuries.
Body-camera video of the incident is available, and both officers who fired their guns are on routine administrative leave while the case continues to be investigated.
Source: CBS Baltimore
Australia: Aldi Pressured to Raise Milk Prices
Woolworths removed its cheap $1-a-litre milk* from shelves this week in response to the struggling Australian dairy industry, and farmers say Coles and Aldi also need to raise their milk prices if dairies are to survive.
There has been a campaign for years to get rid of the $1 milk line, which was introduced in chain stores across the country eight years ago. Farmers report that years of drought, rising production costs, and low profitability are threatening their farms.
“The situation facing dairy farmers is critical,” NSW Farmers Dairy Committee chair Erika Chesworth said. “This is a lesson for every other retailer in the country.”
Woolworths-branded milk will now cost $1.10 per litre, and the additional 10 cents will go to the 450 dairy farmers who supply the Woolworths chain.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said he hopes to see an end to Australia’s “$1 milk disaster.”(Littleproud was later accused of a conflict of interest, since he owns Woolworth stock.)
“Supermarkets can’t pretend selling milk cheap doesn’t hurt farmers and they’ve got to be called out on this rubbish,” he said.
The Australian Associated Press has sought comment from Coles and Aldi.
Source: 97.3 FM, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* For people living in the United States: $1 Australian dollar is currently equal to 71 U.S. cents. A liter is a little more than a quarter of a gallon, so the milk in question comes out to about $2.68 a gallon in American dollars. Some Americans might find that a little on the expensive side compared to American Aldi milk, which reflects differences in costs between the two countries.
