Shopper disappointed over gruesome discovery on Woolworths roast chicken: ‘I’m so put off chicken’

When we think of a roast chicken from the supermarket, we often imagine the convenience of a quick, ready-to-eat meal that can save us time in the kitchen.

However, for one Woolworths customer, this image was shattered when she made a shocking and stomach-turning discovery.



Sarah, a resident of Leederville, had picked up a roast chicken from the deli section at Woolworths in Mt Hawthorn's The Mezz shopping centre, expecting to serve her family a hassle-free dinner.

Little did she know, her meal would come with an uninvited and horrifying addition—live maggots.


Screenshot 2024-09-16 at 10.16.00 AM.png
Sarah had a disgusting discovery on her Woolworths roast chicken. Credit: Facebook


The busy working mother had consumed half of the chicken herself before leaving the rest for her family's dinner.

It was only when her husband reheated the chicken that evening that the gruesome discovery was made.

To their horror, they realised they had already eaten part of the contaminated meal.

In a state of panic, Sarah's husband urged her to ‘go throw up, you don’t know what bacteria is in there’.

‘We were just Googling the risks,’ she recalled.

The couple spent the night researching the possible dangers, concerned for their well-being and children.

Sarah contacted Woolworths that night, expressing her deep concern and urging the supermarket to ‘investigate this matter promptly and take the necessary actions to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future’.



The response she received the next morning, however, felt impersonal and possibly ‘AI-generated’, lacking the empathy and urgency the situation demanded.

'It is concerning to hear that the product did not meet our high standards for quality control as they were live maggots,' the email from Woolworths customer service read.

'I would like to sincerely apologise for the experience and inconvenience caused.'

‘I can imagine how disappointing this was for you. Please be assured that Woolworths takes all feedback such as yours very seriously.’

While the email promised that the issue had been ‘forwarded’ to the store's manager, Sarah was not satisfied with the virtual response and decided to visit the store in person.

‘I could tell he was expecting me, he wasn’t surprised,’ she said.

Upon showing the manager a video of the maggot-infested chicken, she felt he was dismissive and uninterested in viewing the evidence.



After some negotiation, Sarah was offered a refund for the chicken, but she insisted on being reimbursed for her entire purchase, totalling $40.

Her primary concern was not just compensation but assurance that measures would be taken to prevent future occurrences.

Despite her efforts, Sarah has not received further communication from Woolworths.

‘I haven’t heard back since,’ she said.

‘I’m so put off chicken.’

Her sentiment was echoed by friends who shared similar experiences with the supermarket's hot chickens and minced meat on social media.

'If I had gone to a restaurant, it would be such a big deal,' Sarah argued, highlighting the gravity of the situation.



In response to the incident, a Woolworths spokesperson said, 'We take food quality and safety very seriously and have raised this with our deli team and supplier.'

In a similar story, a Woolworths shopper was disgusted after finding insects in his salad mix.

While offered a refund, the shopper expressed concern over food standards. You can read more about the story here.
Key Takeaways

  • A Woolworths customer was shocked to find live maggots in a roast chicken purchased at their Mt Hawthorn store.
  • After consuming part of the chicken, the discovery was made when her husband reheated the food for dinner.
  • The customer expressed her disappointment and concern in an email to Woolworths and requested an investigation and preventative measures.
  • Woolworths responded, apologising for the incident and stating that they take food quality and safety very seriously, mentioning that the issue was escalated to the deli team and supplier.
Have you ever encountered a problem with the quality or safety of your food? How was it handled by the store? Share your stories in the comments below!
 
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Personally I've never found a tasty WW brand product with or without the maggots. WW has the worst homebrand products on the market.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Iggydi
In my ultra active days in my late teens and early 20s, I would consume a WHOLE size 10 or 12 chicken along with two whole cobs of corn for a single meal. I didn't have an ounce of fat. Playing rugby league, touch football, surfing, golf, tennis and squash, amongst other physical activities, I burnt off the kilojoules as quick as I would consume them.

They were the days! Now I'm a sedentary fatso, weighing in at 20 kgs more than I did back then. :cry:
I wouldn't expect a teenage boy to be worried about others, a Mum with a family is a bit different 🐔
 
What I got was she had consumed HALF of the chicken and left the rest for the family's dinner.
Did she consume that at one sitting or over multiple days?
Greedy mother or small family.
My thoughts exactly, what woman eats half a chicken and leaves the other half for her family? What a piggy. I have seen staff checking chickens when they are removed from the cooking apparatus to check the temperature before packaging so don't think maggots could live in this environment. Must have happened in her home.
 
Well, I guess maggots are edible, live maggots are fresh, and Wokeworths claims to be the fresh food people, so they are living up to their claims then.

Give me Coles or Aldi any day.
Dumb thing to say because it could have been coles or Aldi anyway not just woollies plus I don’t believe this story. Liar liar undies on fire 🔥 🤣
 
  • Wow
Reactions: magpie1
Yes, I believed the cooking and then the hot lights that the cooked chickens sit under would prevent any maggots from being alive on the item.

The article doesn't include details on how long the chicken was in this person's car/home or whether it was wrapped so it's hard to know when the maggots developed.
I only buy cooked chicken from a butcher as they are not put in a plastic bag. How long do they sweat for in these bags.
 
I once found a stone in my Cadbury's whole almond chocolate bar, this was a while ago and I'm not sure if they still sell them with whole nuts, but I bit straight into it, it didn't break any teeth but it was jarring.
The stone was almond-shaped so it was understandable that the machine could mistake it for a nut and let it go through the production line. Their response was, as expected, apologetic, but I also felt they didn't believe me, they even said a stone couldn't get through the production line...what, sabotage? They sent me a small box of chocolate in the mail, and I also returned the bar I'd bought to the supermarket, theyhad told me to contact head office, which I did, and I had this response.
 
Yes, not often, and I doubt it is possible to keep all food entirely free from contamination.
A live insect or a grub in vegetables sometimes is inevitable unless the produce is going to be soaked in poison which I would prefer it was not.
As to live maggots in cooked meat, how did the maggots survive through the cooking process? They would not normally be able to. It is more likely maggots got into the meat after it was cooked.
 
Can i suggest NOT buying chickens from any store - the chickens are treated abhorrently and have a life of misery and carted squashed to be tortured before being killed. If you cannot buy organic or biodynamic then think about where your meat is coming from, how it is treated and how it ends up in its final hours. Coles do have organic chicken and red meat that is properly certified -Cleavers, however there are certified organic butchers but that means probably going a bit out of ones way - remember the early days - butcher, fruit shop, deli all separate to being a part of a mega chain.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Elias
I’m not surprised, the company is owned by the Elites “Black Rock” they want us eating BUGS!!! 🤨
 
Can i suggest NOT buying chickens from any store - the chickens are treated abhorrently and have a life of misery and carted squashed to be tortured before being killed. If you cannot buy organic or biodynamic then think about where your meat is coming from, how it is treated and how it ends up in its final hours. Coles do have organic chicken and red meat that is properly certified -Cleavers, however there are certified organic butchers but that means probably going a bit out of ones way - remember the early days - butcher, fruit shop, deli all separate to being a part of a mega chain.
I Miss those days and the Corner Store 😕
 

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