Aussies and Kiwis love their sausages and the ubiquitous sausage sizzle.

I’ve consciously stopped buying sausage because that’s what’s available at any school or sporting function.

Candace Mosen, Whanganui in New Zealand, said her son Lucas put a piece of saveloy in his mouth before spitting it back out while he was having lunch on Tuesday.

“I swore,” Ms. Mosen told the Wanganui Chronicle.

“It obviously went through a food processor, because it’s processed meat. It makes me sick to think about that.”

The rest of the family had already eaten from the same packet of Top Hat saveloys the previous night and were sickened by the sight of the tiny foot.

Ms. Mosen said the packet of saveloys was bought at a local supermarket earlier this month and had been in the freezer.

“Obviously, if there’s a foot, where’s the rest of the rat? I don’t want to see other babies getting sick,” she said.

Lucas was taken to hospital for a check-up but doctors said any ill-effects could take up to two days to present.

The supermarket has responded to Ms. Mosen’s complaint, saying its head office had been notified, as well as Tegel, who is the supplier. The Ministry of Health was also notified and collected the foot for testing on Wednesday.

“We followed all correct procedures and informed the supplier as well. They’re all aware of the situation,” a spokesperson told the publication.

 The supermarket said the foot could not have come from their premises as it was found inside the packaging, but it had offered the customer a full refund.

Ms. Mosen said she was not offered a refund. She contacted Tegel, the supplier of the sausages, who told her the foot likely came from a chicken.

“They were telling me it was a chicken foot,” she said.

“I told them I would be hanging on to it, because I wanted to get it tested.”

Ms. Mosen told TVNZ she was not interested in compensation but wanted the company to take the complaint seriously.

“I would like to know where the rest of the rat is,” she said.