Pubgoers who were enjoying a peaceful festive drink were left puzzled when they discovered this unusual brown material in a packet of chips.
After it came out of a bag of Burts Chips in the Wagon and Horses in Meltham on Wednesday night, Richard Noon posted a picture of the strange lump on Twitter.
Since then, individuals all throughout the world have speculated on what it could be, ranging from a fossil to a banned drug!
“People on Twitter are saying it’s hash and wondering what it smells like – it doesn’t really smell like anything, just burnt crisps and a little of cheese!” Richard told The Huddersfield Examiner.
“We haven’t tested it – we aren’t that foolish!”
“It has a rough charcoal texture and is about the size of a tennis ball.”
“We suspect it’s a clump of pre-fried crisps or a lump of seasoning that got trapped in the oven.”
The main discussion, though, was whether it was crisp or a chip, according to Richard, who said that his five-year-old son Oliver insisted it was a chip!
“They’re giving me a stamped addressed envelope to mail to them, and they’re also sending me something (in compensation).
“Hopefully, I’ll finally figure out what it is!”
“We take food safety and quality extremely seriously and are sorry for any inconvenience caused,” a Burts Chips spokeswoman said.
“The lump is most likely a cluster of overheated potato chips that got through our quality inspections. As a result, we’ll be boosting the frequency of checks performed by our fryers to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“Since this problem arose, we’ve been talking with Mr. Noon.”