Upset consumers have long taken to social media to express disgust at finding insects in produce they’ve purchased from Australian supermarkets.
From worms, ladybugs, cockroaches, flies and moths – it’s obvious health-conscious consumers aren’t the only ones with a taste for fresh fruit and vegetables.
But not everyone is as sympathetic as retailers, however, with many saying people who complain about the presence of foreign objects in their food should suck it up.
Zoe Anderson (pictured) was chowing down on a Coles Caesar Salad from the Bonnells Bay store in New South Wales on Wednesday when made a gruesome discovery
The design student claimed she found a large dead insect just as she was almost finished her salad (like pictured), forcing her to choke back an overwhelming desire to vomit
Zoe Anderson was chowing down on a Coles Caesar Salad from the Bonnells Bay store in New South Wales on Wednesday when she made a gruesome discovery.
The design student claimed she found a large dead insect just as she was almost finished, forcing her to choke back an overwhelming desire to vomit.
Traumatised, she vowed to never purchase a salad from the retailer again, meanwhile, Coles said it had contacted Ms Anderson to follow up her complaint.
The 22-year-old was not the first to find a deceased animal in food purchased from a supermarket, and almost certainly won’t be the last.
Traumatised, she vowed to never purchase a salad from the retailer again, meanwhile, Coles said it had contacted Ms Anderson to follow up her complaint (insect in her salad pictured)
The 22-year-old was not the first to find a deceased animal in food purchased from a supermarket, and almost certainly won’t be the last (dirt pictured in bag of Coles’ spinach)
Health-conscious consumers obviously aren’t the only ones with a taste for fresh fruit and vegetables (ladybug pictured in Woolworths lettuce bag)
One customer was mid-through their lunch when they found what appeared to be a dead dragonfly (pictured)
But those on the sidelines have argued the presence of rogue creatures might not be such a bad thing after all, given it was often a sign of healthy, thriving crops.
Among the plethora of posts to Facebook criticising retailers for incompetent washing and packaging were many people urging others to take better care themselves.
In several posts complaining about small insects either live or dead in a pile of leafy green vegetables, many commenters expressed it was only natural.
‘This happens all the time that’s why you wash it before you eat it?,’ someone wrote to a shopper unhappy about their lettuce crawling in bugs.
Another Woolworths customer found an earwig inside a bag which claimed the corn inside had been washed and was ready to use
A smaller insect was allegedly found inside a strawberry (pictured) bought from Coles after a shopper took a bite
One customer complained to Coles about her apple (pictured) being contaminated
Another claimed they were fine dealing with animals on their food if it meant no nasty chemicals, writing: ‘Exactly, I’d rather live bugs than my produce drowned in pesticides’.
Someone else said, ‘This happens all the time that’s why you wash it before you eat it?.’
‘I’d rather a tiny bug than poisonous pesticides,’ another person said.
One shopper stated animals inside produce, dead or alive, was actually positive for the consumer.
A customer claimed they found a small insect at the bottom of their Coles bag of spinach
One customer was surprised to find a dead bug with the lettuce inside a caesar salad bag
A customer found small insects crawling inside a package of flour she bought from Coles
‘Bugs are good! It means no pesticides have been used,’ they wrote.
Another person agreed and claimed it was a sign the product was extra fresh.
‘That’s as fresh as it gets! Straight from the ground to your plate,’ their comment read.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Coles and Woolworths for comment.
Baked goods weren’t exempt from the odd insect, with a shopper discovering what appeared to be a dead fly inside a six pack of bread rolls (pictured)
A Coles ‘Little Shop’ collector noticed a stray fly inside her miniature bottle of Dettol (pictured)