Couple Found Venemous Spider in Grapes
A COUPLE needed hospital treatment after being poisoned by venomous
spiders nesting in grapes bought at a supermarket.
Ceri and Rose Williams, from Barry, were on holiday in Newquay,
Cornwall, when they bought the healthy snack from Tesco.
But it was not long before they noticed something rummaging around in
the bag of grapes.
After a quick inspection they found a pair of venomous false widow
spiders had already made a meal of fruit, spreading their poison all
over the £2-a-bunch grapes.
One was dead, and the other was still alive, spinning a cotton
wool-like substance all over the fruit – which turned out to be their
nest.
But it was too late because the couple from Barry had already starting
snacking on the fruit themselves, and were experiencing numbness,
headaches and high blood pressure.
They even needed hospital treatment, and had to be monitored closely
by doctors for several hours.
Mum-of-two Mrs Williams said: "I absolutely hate spiders at the best
of times, so this really was my worst nightmare.
"I still feel sick thinking about it and I'm checking everything I eat
and washing it carefully too.
"It's made me particularly nervous about eating fruit. My five
portions a day have gone out of the window for the foreseeable future."
The couple have become the UK's tenth and eleventh victims of false
widows which experts say are spreading due to global warming.
The spiders, who are cousins of the famous black widow, have now been
handed over to Defra to conduct their own investigations.
Mr Williams, 52, a carpenter, said: "The live one was very lively. We
only bought the packets because they were reduced to £1 and when we
opened it we saw a dead spider stuck to what looked like cotton wool.
"We now know it was some kind of nest which is completely horrifying.
"We just want to find out what it was. The whole episode has
definitely put me off grapes – and really put me off fruit in general."
The couple made an official complaint to the supermarket in
Wadebridge, Cornwall, where they bought the grapes – which offered to
pay them back the £2 cost.
Mrs Williams, 45, said:"We have three days of detective work while we
were on our holiday to find out what it was.
"They've offered a £2 refund, which is a bit cheeky considering we
were half scared to death."
A spokesman for Tesco said: "With all the expertise, check and will in
the world it is not always possible to completely legislate for the
natural world.
"It must have been a real scare."
Wales on Line: 17th July 2008
