Leamington man discovers black widow spiders in grapes

An unwitting shopper got more than he paid for, when a pack of grapes he purchased from Asda in Leamington Spa were discovered to be home to a nest of black widow spiders, on 2nd June 2015.

Police were called after the discovery, and later a wildlife sanctuary came to collect the spiders.

Geoff Grewcock, of the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife sanctuary, told the BBC: “The chap had picked up some grapes in Asda and he was about to eat one when he noticed something crawling in them.”

Photo: Konrad Summers / Flickr

“We found a complete nest inside. One of the spiders had given birth and there were lots of baby spiders running around.”

Mr Grewcock also confirmed that the spiders were “very venomous”.

The retailer behind the sale, Asda, said after the discovery: “We take these matters very seriously and have launched an investigation to determine how this particular spider got through our checks.”

“We are in contact with the customer and would like to reassure all our customers that these types of incidents are extremely rare and that we have robust processes in place for identifying pests, including spiders.”

Despite the apparent rarity, Warwick University students have reacted with distress to these dangerous spiders being so close to home.
 
Charlotte Newbury, first-year English and Creative Writing student, reacted by declaring: “I will never eat grapes again.” She proceeded to demand the disposal of both her own freshly brought grapes and those of her flatmates.

Meanwhile, Gemma Turner, first-year Sociology student, commented: “At least they weren’t from Cannon Park Tesco.”