A mom in Branford, Connecticut, is warning fruit-lovers to be on alert after she said she found a venomous black widow spider in a package of grapes she purchased at the grocery store.
She said she bought the grapes from the Branford Stop & Shop Monday morning. A few hours later she made the discovery while she and her 11-year-old son were in the middle of eating the grapes.
Luckily it didn’t bite, and no one was hurt. She told NBC Connecticut that Stop & Shop offered to give her double her money back for the grapes.
“It makes you nervous,” said Laurie Fitzgerald from Branford. “It makes you wonder where they’re importing the grapes from.”
NBC Connecticut reached out to Stop & Shop in response and they sent a statement saying in part: “Stop & Shop and our grape growers take necessary measures to keep spiders out of the grapes that are sold. Despite that effort, it is possible for a spider to get into the bunches as they are a part of the natural, organic environment.”
The grapes came from a company in California. NBC Connecticut have reached out to them and have not heard back.
“It’s a spider,” said Jessie Palmer, a shopper from Guilford. “They’re everywhere. My opinion — there are worse things you could find.”
