Nobody likes a scorpion in his/her package of store-bought blackberries, but this is exactly what one UK citizen, James Green, received after purchasing a box of blackberries from the popular supermarket known as Sainsbury’s. Major corporations, like Sainsbury’s, do not like admitting to the existence of potentially dangerous arthropods within their product packages, but managers working at a Sainsbury’s in Wigan had no choice but to admit guilt after being confronted with the scorpion-contaminated product. In response to this unfortunate discovery, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson has announced an investigation into the matter.
After finding a scorpion with its pincers and stinger still attached within a box of Sainsbury’s-brand blackberries, James Green and his wife placed the specimen within a plastic container. The scorpion was only a few centimeters in length, and James is guessing that it originated in Mexico, as the blackberries contained within the package were grown and packaged within the country. James had eaten almost every blackberry from the package before realizing that it contained a scorpion. Luckily, the scorpion was dead, otherwise James would likely have sustained a sting. However, in most cases, arthropods die while being transported within shipments of food products, as the absence of a nourishing environment makes even the hardiest of arthropod species, like scorpions, ill suited for overseas transport.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson claimed that it is incredibly rare for customers to find arthropods within their Sainsbury products, and the customer who recently found a scorpion in a box of blackberries had been approached with a generous offer of goodwill for his trouble. However, Green claimed that this “gesture of goodwill,” as the Sainsbury’s spokesperson put it, consisted of a compensation offer of 15 pounds. Unfortunately, James and his wife did not become rich as a result of this incident, but they could have asked for more than 15 pounds.
Have you ever encountered a terrifying arachnid only to learn that it was dead?
