Shopper claims she found spider in grapes bought in Newbridge

A shopper living in the Curragh area has claimed that black grapes she bought in Lidl in Newbridge contained a spider.

The woman, who doesn't want to be named, told KildareNow that she bought the produce yesterday and had some of the grapes after dinner last night before she discovered the insect.

According to the packaging, the fruit originated in Brazil.

The 500g punnet was bought for €2.19 in the store on the Athgarvan Road, Newbridge at around 7pm yesterday

The woman said she contacted Lidl in Newbridge today and a staff member said the retailer would take the product from its shelves and launch a full investigation.

The photos appear to show the legs of the spider and parts of a web.

The shopper said: "As soon as I saw legs and web I start to panic cause Brazilian spiders are the most venomous spiders in the world.

Sources said that supermarkets like Lidl have reduced the amount of pesticides used on fresh fruit and vegetables in line with feedback from customers and therefore incidents like this can occur although they are very rare.

It's expected that the retailer will directly contact the supplier involved as a result of this issue and monitor quality control levels very carefully in future.