If there’s one thing you don’t want to find in your food, its
pellets of purpose-made poison. Unfortunately for Stapleford resident Tony
Jones, that was exactly what he found following a recent visit to his local Tesco
in Long Eaton.
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Img: Nottingham Post |
The father of two purchased a bag of ‘Fresh Greens’ salad
leaves from the supermarket, part of the chain’s Redmere Farms range, and was horrified
to make the discovery after he attempted to feed the leaves to his three guinea
pigs - Tiger, Dash and Pippa. When all three refused to chow down, Mr Jones
took a closer look and noticed that the leaves were in fact covered in slug
pellets.
He told the Nottingham Post, “I noticed the other day that the guinea pigs were turning down the
greens – all down the bottom they are riddled with blue slug pellets.
“It's not just one or two. They are covered. Luckily I
washed them in the sink or there's a possibility I could have killed the guinea pigs.”
Depending upon which of the common varieties of slug pellets
were in fact found amongst the leaves – Metaldehyde or Methiocarb –
of which we have no confirmation, the results could have been disastrous had Mr
Jones’ beloved pets, or even worse, himself or his family, consumed the
contaminated product.
Metaldehyde pellets, which are by far the more common, are
far less toxic than their Methiocarb counterpart and are unlikely to cause
serious harm unless ingested in large quantities. Methiocarb pellets, on the
other hand, are around 10 times as poisonous. They break down far more slowly,
increasing the potential for exposure, and are capable or killing far more than
the common garden slug. All in all, Mr Jones was lucky to have noticed the
pellets.
A spokeswoman for Tesco said, “We have robust food quality
processes in place during the preparation and packaging of this product so we
were surprised to learn of Mr Jones's complaint.
“We are investigating what may have happened with our
supplier and will keep Mr Jones updated.”
Sam Bonson
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. He is currently
working as a content writer, journalist & editor in an attempt to expand
his horizons.
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