Black Widow Grapes: Poisonous Spiders Found In Produce In Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota
ByLess than a month after it was reported a woman found venomous Brazilian wandering spiders in her bananas, a poisonous black widow spider has been found on grapes in a supermarket in Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reported.
Yvonne Duckhorn told the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel she was shopping at Aldi Supermarket in Milwaukee on Thursday with her 4-year-old daughter when she found a live black widow spider in a clear container of red grapes.
"I saw the legs moving frantically," she said. "I've seen bugs on fruit before, and I thought, 'That is a very big spider.' Nothing I'd ever seen before."
Duckhorn said she was especially concerned when she recognized the spider's distinct red spot on its body. She alerted the supermarket's employees of her discovery.
Aldi Supermarkets said it immediately removed its entire stocks of grapes "out of an abundance of caution," implementing additional inspection procedures at all warehouses and stores. The company also reiterated its guarantee of a refund to any customer not 100 percent satisfied with a food product.
According to National Geographic, Black Widows are among the most venomous spiders found in North America and are known to move into grape fields looking for small insects and bugs to eat.
"Insecticides are generally not strong enough to kill off larger spiders, and because of their shape and color, the spider often sneaks by visual food inspectors," the Examiner reported.
According to Fox news, there have been quite a few reports of black widows found in grapes. The poisonous insects have been discovered in grapes in several states, touching off a panic among shoppers in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
In early October, two consumers in the St. Louis area reported finding black widow spiders in grapes purchased from different Aldi stores.
And in September, a black widow was found in a shipment of grapes in the lunchroom of a Twin Cities school.