Likely from time to time, you purchase something at the store that contains another item that wasn’t supposed to be there. Usually, these items are perfectly harmless. A woman in Sydney, Australia, however, claims that she found a live snake in a bag of lettuce that she purchased at her local Aldi supermarket. The grocery chain is now investigating. (1)
Woman Finds Live Snake in Bag of Lettuce From Aldi’s
Last week, Australian supermarket giant Aldi launched an investigation after a customer claimed to find a live snake in a bag of lettuce she bought at one of their Sydney locations. Of course, the woman posted about the incident on social media. Not only is it, well, kind of crazy, but she also wanted to warn other shoppers to be careful while doing their shopping. (1)
“Last night my son found a baby pale-headed snake in with his baby cos lettuce from Aldi,” she wrote. “Check packaged lettuces carefully.” (1)
Aldi’s Response
Naturally, Aldi is shocked at the incident and is unsure how the snake could have possibly even gotten in there. They launched an investigation to determine how this happened and what can be done to prevent it from occurring in the future. (1)
“We’ve worked with the customer and the team at WIRES [Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service] to identify the snake’s natural habitat, which is certainly not an ALDI store,” (1)
WIRES says that the only way they can imagine this happening is that the snake was picked along with the lettuce when it was very young and somehow managed to survive the entire lettuce production and packaging process. Though this type of snake is known for being shy and timid, they will quickly become aggressive if they feel threatened. (1)
From a Bag of Lettuce and Back into to the Wild
Though the woman who discovered the snake lives in Sydney, the snake’s home is actually 1,000km away in Queensland. A team from WIRES drove the snake back to Toowoomba, the region where Aldi’s lettuce is grown, and released it back into the wild. (2)
“You get the haters that would rather see [a snake] chopped up in a million pieces,” says Amy Wregg, WIRES emergency responder. “But he’s a little hatchling that just got himself into a bit of mischief. He’s venomous but he’s not deadly so it’s enough to make you sick but not kill you.” (2)
Roughly the size of a pen, the little snake spent a week in WIRES care before making the trip back home. Wregg says the week-long recovery period was to ensure his health after spending so much time in a cold environment. Thankfully, his recovery went well, and he can return to regular daily snake life. (2)
“It’s such a joy to be able to bring them back to the wild. They’re always a big part of the ecosystem,” says Wregg. (2)
Other Strange Things Found in Groceries
Though finding a live snake in a bag of lettuce is certainly up there in terms of things you don’t expect to find in your groceries, these next few are also as strange. Be careful – some may turn you off of eating a certain food item ever again!
- A dead mouse in a jar of Asda Extra Special Curry sauce in the UK
- A mouse baked into the edge of a loaf of bread
- Human tooth in a Milky Way candy bar
- Toad in a Diet Pepsi
- A dead bat in a box of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies
- Snakehead in a can of green beans
- Frozen frog in frozen veggies
- Black widow spider in a bag of grapes
- Razorblade in Walmart brand peanut butter ice cream
If you’re anything like me, I will be thoroughly inspecting all packaged food items from now on!
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