Families sitting down to enjoy a Christmas roast were in for an unwanted surprise after finding their turkeys had turned fluorescent green inside.
Pictures emerged of crowns of turkey meat which had been cut in half to reveal the unsightly green flesh - which left families going hungry on the big day.
Disgusted shoppers, who paid as much as £30 for the turkeys in Tesco, took to social media to express their dismay at their less-than-appealing lunches.
The off-colour meat is thought to be caused by a degenerative muscle condition in turkeys commonly referred to as Green Muscle Disease, and is not harmful.
Families sitting down to Christmas dinner were disgusted to find green meat in their turkeys, pictured
Mother-of-four Rachael James said the discovery of the green turkey 'ruined the meal'
It occurs after the inner breast muscle of the bird develops in a way that prevents blood supply from circulating, resulting in the green discolouration.
Mother-of-four Rachael James, 33, picked up a frozen turkey from her local Tesco store in Whitchurch, Shropshire, and was mortified to find green flesh when carving it on Christmas Day.
She said: 'It was our Christmas lunch with our four young children and grandparents watching me carve.
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Share'When I got it out of the packaging it seemed to be okay but once I had cooked it and started to carve it in front of everyone I noticed that there was something wrong with the centre of the turkey.
'It put everyone off their meal and ruined the meal, none of us felt like we could eat any of the turkey and ended up having the whole meal with no turkey.
'It ruined the meal completely, this was a meal that we had all been looking forward to for months as we have a had a stressful year.
Tesco has offered to refund any of its customers affected by the problem, which is caused by a muscle condition in turkeys
'Tesco have offered a refund of the price of the turkey which I am unhappy about and have told them this due to the stress of the whole thing.
'We just ate everything else that I had prepared and cooked as it was all ready before I realised about the turkey.
'I've got a 13, 11, 10 and four year old.
'I will never by my turkey from Tesco again and will now consider going else where for my weekly shop. I think I paid about £23.
'After everyone had gone home I investigated the green mass and discovered that it went from one side of the breast meat to the other. It was disgusting.'
Steve Parsons, 26, and his partner Emma, 28, were enjoying Christmas Day lunch with ten other family members including four children at their home in Lyme Regis, Dorset.
Mr Parsons, who works as a window cleaner, said: 'It put a downer on the whole day.
'Luckily one of friends kindly had a joint of beef that we could use which meant the day wasn't completely ruined.
'My mother-in-law was basting the turkey all night.'
Green flesh, pictured, occurs because of a lack of blood flow inside the bird, but it is not harmful when consumed
The Christmas turkey was purchased for in the superstore's branch in Seaton, Devon, two days before the big day.
Mr Parsons added: 'The reaction of everyone around the dinner table was quite simply, yuck. It didn't smell but it was really rubbery.
'We'd cooked the pigs and blankets in its juices so we had to throw all of those out as well.
'It cost around £30 and claimed that it was going to serve 25, which was enough for the 12 of us.
'Luckily Tesco have been good with their response and have given us a £75 gift voucher and two turkey crowns.'
A Tesco spokesperson said: 'There's nothing more important than the quality of the food we sell so we were concerned to hear this has happened.
'We've offered a refund to the customers affected and will inform our supplier.'
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