A suburban Detroit woman called 911 after she found a black widow spider in a package of grapes she purchased from Walmart.
Ariel Jackson said she was rinsing out the grapes she purchased on Monday from a Walmart in Troy when the spider appeared and startled her,
reported WWJ Radio.
"All of the sudden I just see this black spider come crawling out," said Jackson who then called 911. "I told them that 'this isn't really an emergency, but I have a black widow spider in my grapes and I don't really know what to do.'"
"(The 911 operator) kind of just paused and was like, 'kill it' and I was like 'you want me to kill it? You're not going to send anyone over?' This is a poisonous spider and he's like, 'yeah, just kill it and throw it away,'" said Jackson.
Jackson said her boyfriend and brother-in-law used an insecticide to kill the spider after taking the container outside.
Walmart released a statement saying it was responding to the incident,
reported WXYZ-TV.
"When it comes to food safety, we take all allegations seriously," said Walmart. "We are working to investigate all aspects of this allegation and taking appropriate measures to fully understand what may have happened. Our stores have procedures in place to help ensure products meet our high expectations for fresh, quality food."
Walmart spokesman Aaron Mullins told the
Detroit Free Press that grape packages were double checked by store managers and said there should not be further problems with packages.
"We encourage the customer to reach out to store management, and work with them to resolve this issue," said Mullins. "If the customer can open up a claim, management is prepared to work with them."
National Geographic said the venom from black widows is reportedly 15 times stronger than that of a rattlesnake and can cause muscle aches, nausea and a paralysis of the diaphragm that can make breathing difficult in humans. Deaths from black widow bites are rare, though, and the spiders are not aggressive.
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