Mother, Consi Taylor, 29, was terrified when she noticed dozens of the creepy crawlies as she bit into her Colombian free-trade banana. “I thought it was mould but when I had a closer look I saw some funny-looking spots,” she told The Sun newspaper.
“I had a closer look and was horrified to see they were spiders. They were hatching out on the table, scurrying around on my carpet.”
Mrs Taylor contacted pest control immediately and they confirmed the creepy crawlies to be the venomous Brazilian Wandering Spider, also known as the ‘banana spider,’ after their preferred hide-out.
The terrified mother, along with her husband and two small children, were told to evacuate so their infested home could be fumigated. When Mrs Taylor returned the bananas to Sainsbury’s she was initially offered £10 compensation.
Sainsbury’s then agreed to pay for the fumigation and put the Taylors up in a hotel whilst their house was being cleaned, The Sun reported. A spokesperson from the supermarket chain said: “We’re very sorry and have apologised to Mr and Mrs Taylor. We do have rigorous controls on imported products at all stages – from harvesting to transportation – which is why this is so rare.”
Brazilian Wandering Spiders secrete a venom which triggers loss of muscle control, breathing problems, paralysis and causes eventual asphyxiation, although there is a known anti-venom. In 2010, the Guinness Book of World Records listed the South American critter as the most poisonous in the world.
