Most people assume that the only dangers of gum chewing are tooth decay or swallowing a sticky wad and choking.

But one lady received a shock when she bit into a rather hard piece of Trident gum. To Val Smith's horror when she pulled out the gum she also pulled at a three-quarter inch piece of metal. She said the metal looked like it had come from a piece of machinery.

"At first I thought I'd chipped my tooth and you can understand my shock when I pulled out a piece of metal bar," Ms Smith said.

She said she wasn't sure where she had bought the pack of gum but was advised to call Bermuda General Agency (BGA), the company that distributes the product.

"BGA were quite shocked, quite shocked in deed," Ms Smith said.

She explained that the company would take the product and send if off to the factory to be investigated. She added that she did not blame the company as it could have happened to anyone.

"I was just shocked. Once you put gum in your mouth you don't think about the fact that a piece of metal could be in there. People should be aware because it could have been child who could have chewed it. It was one of those misfortunes. Out of all the Trident out there I had to get this one," she said.

President and CEO of BGA John Tomlinson said the as the distributor the procedure is to take the information and batch number from the person and then contact the company.

"Once we've gathered all the information then we'll contact the vendor and take advice from them on how to proceed," Mr. Tomlinson said.

He said BGA was generally notified if there were products out on the market that needed to be recalled.