A young woman hoping to tuck into a Chinese dumpling was shocked when she discovered it contained what appeared to be an old rag instead of a chia and cabbage filling.

The woman, named only as Ms Niu, who is breastfeeding a young child, said she was being careful about what she ate and had decided a healthy meal of chia-and-cabbage-filled dumplings was just the thing.

She had purchased the snack from a restaurant in the Chinese capital Beijing, according to images she shared online of the disgusting contents that she found.

She said when she bit into one of the last dumplings, she realised there appeared to be what she thought at first was a stringy piece of cabbage, but which she then realised was actually an old rag that had been cooked with the chia-sauerkraut filling.

The woman said she was offended when the company tried to suggest that it was simply a particularly stringy piece of cabbage, and she took these images, which she shared online to show there was no mistake.

The store, however, continues to deny that it was a rag, saying it is impossible for rags to mix in with the steamed dumplings during the production process and that the sauerkraut is cleaned multiple times after leaving the factory, so there is no need to carry out secondary inspection.

However, in the end, although continuing to reject that there was anything wrong with the dumpling, it eventually offered to pay her compensation of CNY 400 (GBP 48).

The woman refused the offer, saying the money was never the issue, but instead was insulted because she did not receive a proper apology.

Ms Niu added that as a breastfeeding mother, the quality of the food that she eats is particularly important, and, if anything, that made the matter worse.

It was not revealed whether she complained to authorities and whether an investigation is being carried out.