Advertisement

Man's gross find at bottom of Woolworths pasta salad

A Woolworths customer has been left traumatised after consuming almost an entire salad before realising it was hosting the dead body of a large insect.

The disturbing sight greeted the Melbourne shopper on Monday just as he got to the bottom of the Basil Pesto Pasta Salad Kit he had earlier purchased from the supermarket in Prahran, in the inner city.

“I’d pretty much finished it, it (the insect) was right at the bottom at the end, in the last mouthful,” he told Yahoo News Australia.

The man bought the salad from the Prahran store (pictured) on Monday. Source: Google Maps
The man bought the salad from the Prahran store (pictured) on Monday. Source: Google Maps

“I thought it was a bit of lettuce, but when I saw its red back and its legs, I just went grey and stopped eating,” he said.

For the rest of the day, the shopper felt so sick he couldn’t stomach the thought of eating anything else.

“My mouth was slimy and I just felt odd. I felt really put off everything, I just sat on the sofa and was trying to wash it down,” he said.

“I didn’t know what it was at first. I thought it was a spider and I’m really scared of spiders.”

The shopper wasn’t sure if the insect he saw was the only one in the salad, or if he had eaten parts of its body without knowing.

The insect's body was discovered in the man's final bite of his salad. Source: Supplied
The insect's body was discovered in the man's final bite of his salad. Source: Supplied

“I was really traumatised. It was shocking to me to see it in produce like that,” he said.

He explained that the bug was inside the pasta element of the kit, rather than the fresh parts of salad.

After contacted Woolworths online, he said he was passed between several departments before eventually speaking to someone who offered him a $20 store credit.

Given his ordeal, the shopper said he had been completely turned off buying anything from Woolworths for the time being.

Woolworths following up with salad supply partner

A Woolworths spokesperson said that the supermarket “takes food safety very seriously”.

“We’ve spoken with the customer and are following the matter up with our salad supply partner and store team,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re not aware of any further reports on our salad kit products at this time.”

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.