Dick Lanyon, a farmer from Boort in northern Victoria, experienced a shocking incident when a tin of Heinz Big Red tomato soup exploded in his face, slicing open his nose and requiring medical attention. This occurred after two similar cans showed signs of swelling within days of each other. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand warned consumers to check for damage like swelling or dents before using canned food, linking such incidents to potential bacterial contamination causing gas build-up inside the tins.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A Dick Lanyon, a farmer from Boort in northern Victoria, suffered severe injuries when a can of Heinz Big Red tomato soup exploded in his face. The incident occurred last Wednesday night, and initially, Mr. Lanyon couldn't identify the source of the explosion until he discovered soup sprayed across his kitchen cupboard with its lid blown off the following morning. Two days later, another can of the same brand exhibited a badly distended bottom, prompting fears of further explosions. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand noted that such incidents could be due to bacterial contamination causing gas build-up within the cans, potentially leading to their explosion if not stored properly in cool, dry conditions.
Written for “Tomato Soup Explosion Injury” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
In short:
A tin of tomato soup exploded in a man's face, ejecting the sharp-edged metal lid into his nose.
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tin → explode → nose
Dick Lanyon suffered a deep cut requiring medical attention.
What's next?
It's unknown why the tin exploded, but similar incidents around the world have been linked to bacterial contamination that has caused gas build-up.
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that → suffer → up
A tin of tomato soup may not seem like something to be afraid of.
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tin → seem → something
But that is now the case for one northern Victoria farmer, who had a soup tin explode in his face, leaving him with a deep cut on his nose.
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tin → have → nose
Dick Lanyon, from Boort, recounted to the ABC what happened in his kitchen last week.
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what → recount → kitchen
"Last Wednesday night I heard an explosion in my kitchen — I went out to have a look and couldn't find anything and just assumed something must have fallen down," he said.
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he → hear → anything
"The next morning I saw in my cupboard there was soup sprayed up the back of it and I saw a tin of soup where the lid had blown off.
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lid → see → soup
The next day he discovered another tin of the same Heinz Big Red tomato soup — this one with the bottom badly distended.
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bottom → discover → soup
Fearing another explosion was imminent, he attempted to dispose of the tin in his rubbish bin.
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he → fear → bin
"I got to the bin, and the tin exploded in my face and the whole lid sliced up the side of my nose," Mr Lanyon said.
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Lanyon → get → nose
"It was tomato soup, so I was covered in tomato soup and blood as well."
After a trip to the hospital, Mr Lanyon's nose was patched up, but he's been left with an enduring wariness of soup tins.
"
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he → cover → tins
I've thrown all my other soup tins in the bin," he said.
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he → throw → bin
"No-one expects a tin of soup to explode in their face."
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tin → expect → face
Mr Lanyon said he had no idea why the cans exploded, although he had since read online about similar incidents caused by bacterial contamination.
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he → say → contamination
"I can't find an expiry date on them, but they were probably three to five years old," he said.
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he → find → them
"I've heard incidents of people trying to heat up cans in a campfire and having horrific injuries, but I certainly didn't expect this to explode for no reason at all.
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this → hear → reason
"And it was very strange that two cans would explode within two days of each other."
In a statement, Food Standards Australia and New Zealand said the shelf life of canned food depended on whether the tins were kept in a cool, dry place.
"
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tins → explode → place
Consumers should always check canned foods for signs of damage before use, including swelling, leakage, rust, dents or damaged seams.
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Consumers → check → swelling
"Food in swollen, leaking or otherwise damaged cans should not be consumed."
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Food → leak → cans
Despite his injuries, Mr Lanyon had a positive outlook on the incident, and said he didn't plan to lodge a complaint with Heinz.
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he → have → Heinz
"It could have been a lot worse — I was very happy it didn't hit me in the eye, because that would have done a lot of damage," he said.
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he → hit → damage
"Because I'm not badly injured, I thought I'd probably just let it slide."
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it → injure → ?
He did, however, urge others to check their pantries for bulging tins.
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He → urge → tins
Heinz has been contacted for comment.
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Heinz → contact → comment
The Aporia