A ‘shocked and appalled’ Lidl A customer claims she discovered fly eggs lurking in their sushi, causing her to fear maggots would hatch in her body.
Megan Janes bought the £4.99 Raku Salmon Lovers 10-piece sushi box from Lidl in Wantage, Oxfordshire, on July 27.
The 28-year-old says she ate about eight pieces of salmon before discovering what she thought were fly eggs.
After immediately gagging, she immediately stopped eating the sushi and kept the leftovers in her kitchen as evidence.
The Oxford field manager claims the eggs hatched into ‘baby’ maggots the next day and described the thought of them wriggling inside as her ‘biggest fear’.
After complaining to Lidl, she received a £10 discount voucher to redeem in store, and the budget supermarket apologized because their ‘high standards were not met’.
But Ms Janes has no plans to use it anytime soon, claiming she won’t shop there again in the future.
She said: ‘I was shocked and so shocked, it was quite surreal. I got through most of the sushi and I tend to inspect every piece, but I was hungover and didn’t really care.
Lidl has apologized after customer Megan Janes claimed she ate ‘fly eggs’ lurking in their sushi – leaving her worried maggots would hatch inside her
Megan Janes bought the £4.99 Raku Salmon Lovers 10-piece sushi box from Lidl in Wantage, Oxfordshire, on July 27.
‘I hadn’t really paid attention, but something struck me, it was a large group [eggs].
‘I said to my friend ‘something isn’t right here’. He said “it’s fine, they’re just seeds” and I said “no, they’re definitely not seeds”.
‘When you get ready-made food, you just don’t expect it to be in it. It immediately gave me pain and upset my stomach.’
After searching online for what it could be, Ms Janes said she was told to stop eating the sushi ‘immediately’.
“By Tuesday morning the eggs had been squashed because the insects were now out of these eggs and crawling out of the fish and rice,” she continued.
“I was afraid the bugs would grow or hatch inside me, that’s what I was really worried about.”
Ms Janes said her boyfriend tried to calm her down by reassuring her that the stomach acid in her body would kill any potential insects.
But she said it didn’t ease her fears.
She added: “I felt like it was a kind of bush tucker process. I remember watching I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here once and noticing one of the bugs got stuck in the contestant’s ear or nose.
The 28-year-old says she ate about eight pieces of salmon before “something” caught her attention and was shocked to discover a cluster of what she thought were fly eggs.
‘I’ve always thought this is my biggest fear, having insects in places they shouldn’t be. That was almost like one of my biggest fears came true.
‘The last few days have been terrible, I’ve been waiting for some kind of illness. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t been terrible; I have been suffering from a troublesome stomach and stomach cramps.’
After sending several emails and photos to Lidl, Ms Janes received a £10 discount voucher.
Mrs Janes said: ‘It puts me off shopping at Lidl. It’s also my main food store, it’s clearly not ideal for me.
“It’s not something I would want to be common. I don’t necessarily want to scare people off, but… [I would say] definitely be careful.
A spokesperson for Lidl GB said: ‘At Lidl GB we work closely with our suppliers to ensure all products meet strict quality standards.
‘Although rare, damage to the outer packaging can sometimes occur, which can lead to product spoilage.
‘We were very sorry to hear that our high standards were not met on this occasion and can confirm that both a refund and a gesture of goodwill have now been made to the customer.’
A spokesperson for Taiko Foods, which creates the Raku range, said: ‘Taiko Foods operates to the highest standards of food safety and hygiene. We have fully investigated this matter and we fully believe that no product contamination occurred during the manufacturing process.”
