Tesco apology after shocked family find exotic bug in broccoli
A Government official has collected the suspected red palm weevil which survived for two weeks in a fridge
by Stuart AbelA supermarket chain today apologised to a family who found a bug in broccoli bought from a Plymouth store.
Government officials have collected the suspected red palm weevil sold on the food by Tesco at its Transit Way store.
The hardy insect must have crawled inside the wrapping when the vegetable was packaged in Spain.
Scott Wisdom and Maria Barlow found the bug still alive inside the plastic more than two weeks after it went in the fridge.
If it is the weevil it is very dangerous to palm trees – especially if it is a female about to lay eggs.
Dad-of-two Scott, from Manadon, contacted the Animal and Health Plant Agency who sent an official from Exeter to collect the creature.
Tesco said in a statement: “We have strict quality controls for our broccoli, and so we’re sorry that on this occasion it did not meet our usual high standards.
"Our supplier checks every (piece of) broccoli when it’s harvested in the field, and they’re inspected again before being packed.”
Scott, a clerk of works at Devonport Dockyard, said he was not angry with Tesco.
He said today: “It is amazing how much interest this has caused. The official was just very glad that we did not just release the creature into the wild.
“I think they are going to identify it properly and see whether it is male or female."
He added he did not know what would happen to the creature but said it was likely to be killed.
The weevil does not pose any risk to people, pets or livestock, but is known to attack and kill a large range of palm species popular in the UK.
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The pest is native to Asia but was accidentally introduced to Spain in 1994 and since then it has spread widely in the Mediterranean region.
It poses such a danger that when one weevil was found four years ago in Essex, officials inspected palm trees up to 10 kilometres away. But no other creatures were found.