Woman left retching after finding bugs crawling on Co-op salad

A woman was left gagging after discovering bugs crawling on lettuce in her Co-op pre-prepared salad - which she had almost finished eating. The shopper - who wished to remain anonymous - immediately rang the Co-op store in Plympton, Devon, which apologised and offered her a £5 voucher for her ordeal.

She told Plymouth Live: "I have had pasta salads from Co-op many times and have never had an issue, but last Tuesday I was horrified to see bugs moving on a piece of lettuce after eating the majority of my lunch.

"At first I thought it was part of the dressing but then I noticed their legs moving. I then used my camera to zoom in and could see multiple bugs on the lettuce. I feel really grossed out.

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"You don't expect to purchase a 'ready-to-eat' meal from a big name supermarket and it have live bugs in. It really is revolting. I won't be eating prepared salads from Co-op again!

"When I rang Co-op they told me they do not use pesticides so there can be bugs - although they said it isn't something that is regularly reported to them.

"I understand it can happen but it is grim. Hopefully by reporting it they will speak to the supplier and it won't happen again. They have added £5 to my Co-op card and apologised. They also asked me to dispose of the item."

The Co-op has confirmed that it does allow the use of certain pesticides to safeguard crops from diseases in its supply chain, but emphasises responsible usage. The company also stated that its suppliers employ a double washing process for all salad leaves and utilise insect detection methods to eliminate insects where feasible.

A representative for Co-op said: "We maintain rigorous standards for the products we sell in our stores and our growers and suppliers thoroughly inspect our salads to ensure quality. We are investigating the issue with our supplier and apologise for this individual customer's experience."