Lethal spiders found in Sainsbury's bananas

A family had to evacuate their home after finding Brazilian wandering spiders in bananas they bought from Sainsbury’s.

16:24 04 November 2013

A 29-year-old mother was dumbfounded after she found lethal spiders in the bananas that she bought from Sainsbury.

Consi Taylor told The Sun that she noticed a strange white spot on the fruit, which she initially thought was mould. However, she later realised that there were dozens of deadly spiders crawling over the skin of the fruit.

She said: "I thought it was mould but when I had a closer look I saw some funny looking spots.

"I had a closer look and was horrified to see they were spiders. They were hatching out on the table, scurrying around on my carpet."

She went back to Sainsbury’s to return the bananas and she was initially offered £10 voucher in compensation. However, it was discovered that there was more to the story.

After she sent an image of the spiders to a pest control company, she was told to evacuate her home together with her family as it could be infested with Brazilian wandering spiders, which in 2010 were listed in the Guinness World Records as the most venomous in the world.

It was confirmed that Sainsbury paid for the fumigation and shouldered the hotel expenses of the whole family.

The supermarket said: "We're very sorry and have apologised to Mr and Mrs Taylor.

"We do have rigorous controls on imported products at all stages - from harvesting to transportation - which is why this is so rare."

 

Image by João P. Burini via Wikipedia