There are things that we may do on a daily basis and when we do them, we are on autopilot. This could include going to the supermarket to get groceries.
When you go to the supermarket, especially if you are looking for something fresh, you probably just give it a quick once over and throw it in the basket. That is what one man in Stourbridge, England did, but he got more than he bargained for.
Aldi customer horrified after discovering a young ladder snake in his bag of broccoli pic.twitter.com/g9IL2kzqFr
— DTN NEWS (@DTNNEWUpdates) July 2, 2023
63-year-old Neville Linton was at a local Aldi in England and he bought a bag of broccoli. He took it home and put it in the refrigerator, only to take it out three days later to prepare a meal.
After unpacking the broccoli from its packaging, however, he saw something that didn’t belong. It took him totally by surprise because there was a snake in the broccoli.
Neville said: “It was pretty frightening. I’m not good with snakes. It’s lucky I didn’t just leave the broccoli out in the kitchen, or it would have been loose in the house.
“That would have been a huge risk for us because we have two vulnerable people living here.”
He was a little confused at first, so he called his sister Ann-Marie to assist. She is the one who identified it as a snake. They put it into a bathtub and went back to Aldi, where the purchase was made.
He said: “I thought she was joking at first, but I backed off when I saw it start moving. The guy in the shop was pretty frightened too.”
They took the snake to a zoo, where it was identified as a young ladder snake. Others, however, thought that it may be a species from the Mediterranean area since that is where much of the fresh food comes from.
Neville has been offered compensation but is not happy with the number. He feels that the risk to his disabled son and vulnerable mother-in-law requires a higher figure.
“It’s just not good enough,” he added. “The implications for us if it had got out in the house are huge. Plus, I’m phobic of snakes so there’s the emotional impact of that too.”
A spokesman for the store said: “Our supplier has never had a complaint of this nature and has robust processes in place to prevent such issues occurring.
“We are investigating this isolated incident and have apologized to Mr. Linton that our usual high standards were not met.”
