PEOPLE are being urged to check their food before they eat it after an unusual spider was discovered among some grapes bought from Wilkinson in Newton Abbot.
Fern Thompson bought a box of red grapes, which came from America, from the store on Monday.
The spider that was discovered among the grapes
The 22-year-old from Torquay, who works as a neighbourhood assistant for a housing association, had left the box on her desk for around 20 minutes before she noticed a branch moving – and then a spider popped out.
"It made my skin crawl," she said. "It was a disgusting little thing, the size of the top of your thumb. It was extremely fast and eager to escape."
She said she slammed the box shut and returned to the shop. By the time she got there, the spider had crawled out of one of the holes in the box and into the surrounding bag.
Miss Thompson said: "I'd not seen a spider like it before, and I didn't know if it was poisonous or not. If it was poisonous, it could have been more serious.
"I wanted to know what it was and whether Wilkinson was going to change its policies to make sure products are checked more carefully.
"I used to shop at Wilkinson regularly but the experience has completely put me off shopping there and I don't think I'll eat grapes again. I now have to wash all fresh food twice before I can eat it.
"People should always check their food before they eat it."
Miss Thompson and her colleagues tried to identify the spider using the internet but couldn't agree on a species.
She said Wilkinson refunded the money for the grapes and sent the spider to the environmental health department.
A spokesman for the retailer confirmed that it had investigated a complaint from a customer who found a spider in grape packaging purchased from its Newton Abbot store.
He said: "We were very sorry to hear of this incident and immediately sought advice from the environmental health department.
"They subsequently confirmed the spider was a redback jumping spider, which was not dangerous, and we are in touch with the customer to offer reassurance.
"Whenever fresh produce is imported from overseas there is a very small chance of this happening. Our suppliers do, however, make every effort to prevent such occurrences."
