Shopper horrified by gross salad discovery; Woolworths’ standards questioned
- Replies 12
In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we often rely on the convenience of pre-packaged meals for a quick, healthy bite.
But what happens when that convenience turns into a nightmare?
One Melbourne man found out the hard way when he discovered an unwelcome guest in his Woolworths salad mix.
Viraji Patel, a 24-year-old vegetarian, was enjoying his lunch break when he made a stomach-churning discovery.
He had combined a Woolworths mixed salad with some falafel and dressing and was halfway through his meal when he noticed something unusual.
'I started eating right away, and while eating, I noticed there was something black, and then I looked carefully and it was an insect,' Viraji recalled.
'I was literally disgusted and threw it right away.'
The offending creature, believed to be a field cricket, was about one and a half centimetres long.
It was nestled amongst the shredded carrot and spinach leaves, a stark contrast to the vibrant colours of the salad.
'I was disgusted,' Viraji reiterated.
'The first thought I had was I was glad that I didn’t put that in my mouth accidentally.'
Viraji had purchased the salad mix from a Woolworths store in Oakleigh, in Melbourne's Southeast.
He immediately lodged a complaint with the supermarket, expressing his concern over the quality of their products.
'I contacted Woolworths and they said, “We will refund you $5.”' Viraji recalled.
'I was like, “I don’t need your $5 gift voucher. First of all, I am a vegetarian... and there are not a lot of options for me.”'
He added, 'They should raise the standards if they are serving all of Australia and something like this happens. And I saw it’s not just me. More people have found bugs and insects in their salads.'
In response to the incident, a spokesperson for Woolworths said that they take all customer feedback seriously and that they 'understand this must have been an unwelcome surprise for this customer'.
'We have been speaking to this customer directly and have investigated this with our team and supplier as a priority.'
'Our supplier conducted numerous quality assessments on this batch of mixed salad leaves and did not detect any foreign objects throughout the processing, so this appears to be an isolated incident.'
As Patel pointed out, this is not the first time Woolworths has faced such complaints.
A Perth woman also found a black beetle-like insect in her Caesar salad, while a Queensland woman discovered a live redback spider in her punnet of grapes last year.
Another Woolworths customer recently found a spider inside a bag of bananas.
But instead of leaving the bananas (and the spider) behind or whipping out a can of bug spray to kill it, they did something not many people would do.
You can read more about this story here.
Have you ever found something unexpected in your pre-packaged salad? Share your experiences in the comments below.
But what happens when that convenience turns into a nightmare?
One Melbourne man found out the hard way when he discovered an unwelcome guest in his Woolworths salad mix.
Viraji Patel, a 24-year-old vegetarian, was enjoying his lunch break when he made a stomach-churning discovery.
Patel a stomach-churning discovery in his Woolworths salad. Image source: Viraji Patel.
He had combined a Woolworths mixed salad with some falafel and dressing and was halfway through his meal when he noticed something unusual.
'I started eating right away, and while eating, I noticed there was something black, and then I looked carefully and it was an insect,' Viraji recalled.
'I was literally disgusted and threw it right away.'
The offending creature, believed to be a field cricket, was about one and a half centimetres long.
It was nestled amongst the shredded carrot and spinach leaves, a stark contrast to the vibrant colours of the salad.
'I was disgusted,' Viraji reiterated.
'The first thought I had was I was glad that I didn’t put that in my mouth accidentally.'
Viraji had purchased the salad mix from a Woolworths store in Oakleigh, in Melbourne's Southeast.
He immediately lodged a complaint with the supermarket, expressing his concern over the quality of their products.
'I contacted Woolworths and they said, “We will refund you $5.”' Viraji recalled.
'I was like, “I don’t need your $5 gift voucher. First of all, I am a vegetarian... and there are not a lot of options for me.”'
He added, 'They should raise the standards if they are serving all of Australia and something like this happens. And I saw it’s not just me. More people have found bugs and insects in their salads.'
In response to the incident, a spokesperson for Woolworths said that they take all customer feedback seriously and that they 'understand this must have been an unwelcome surprise for this customer'.
'We have been speaking to this customer directly and have investigated this with our team and supplier as a priority.'
'Our supplier conducted numerous quality assessments on this batch of mixed salad leaves and did not detect any foreign objects throughout the processing, so this appears to be an isolated incident.'
As Patel pointed out, this is not the first time Woolworths has faced such complaints.
A Perth woman also found a black beetle-like insect in her Caesar salad, while a Queensland woman discovered a live redback spider in her punnet of grapes last year.
Another Woolworths customer recently found a spider inside a bag of bananas.
But instead of leaving the bananas (and the spider) behind or whipping out a can of bug spray to kill it, they did something not many people would do.
You can read more about this story here.
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It's a bug and it's part of nature ...no one expects you to eat him... just pop him back outside
