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  • Black Widows Grapes: Poisonous Spiders Found in Grape Packages

    Produce just got scary (and lethal) again. Remember when we told you about the woman in London who had a Brazilian wandering spider egg, the most lethal spider in the world, hatch on her banana? Well, now consumers in the United States are reporting finding black widow spiders in packages of grapes.

    Reports of black widows in grape packages have been made in a few states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota. One of these cases happened in Milwaukee when a woman found a black widow spider in a container of red grapes purchased from Aldi. Yvonne Duckhorn was shopping at Aldi with her 4-year-old on Thursday and picked up a container of grapes to inspect when she noticed the spider.

    “I saw the legs moving frantically,” Duckhorn said. “I’ve seen bugs on fruit before, and I thought, ‘That is a very big spider.’ Nothing I’d ever seen before.” Upon further inspection, Duckhorn saw that the spider was black and had red markings on it, which is the hallmark of the black widow spider.

    Check out a photo of a black widow spider below–they can grow up to around 1.5 inches long and are the most venomous spider in North America.

    (image)

    After Duckhorn realized that the spider was likely a black widow, she alerted an employee about the spider in the grapes. Aldi has since pulled all grape packages off their shelves in the Milwaukee area. “At Aldi, we are committed to providing high quality products,” the company said in a statement. “We sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern this situation may have caused.”

    A woman in York, Pennsylvania also reported finding a black widow in a container of grapes last week. Yvonne Whalen purchased a container of grapes from Giant Food Stores and was eating some at home when she noticed a spider leg.

    “The next thing I know, there was this leg coming up over a grape and needless to say I dropped by grapes in the sink,” Whalen said. She saved the spider and an expert confirmed that it was indeed a black widow. The expert, Ryan Bridge, also said that finding black widow spiders in grapes is not unusual.

    Will you hold off on purchasing grapes for a while or just be extra careful to inspect them before eating? Add your comments below. Judging from some posts on Twitter, it looks like a few people plan to swear off grapes for a while.

    [Images via YouTube and WikiMedia Commons]

  • Black Widow Spider Found in Aldi Mart Grapes

    Black Widow Spider Found in Aldi Mart Grapes

    Discount supermarket chain Aldi removed its entire stock of grapes from the shelves of its Milwaukee, Wisconsin, stores in early November, after a shopper found a black widow spider in a container. The red grapes in that incident were purchased from Aldi’s Wauwatosa, WI, branch, and other black widow sightings have been reported at grocery stores in Michigan, Missouri and Minnesota, in recent months.

    The black widow spider is a venomous species of the genus Latrodectus. The spiders are known for their striking red and black markings, and for the practice of the female sometimes eating the male soon after mating. Their venom in neurotoxic, and seldomly fatal to humans, though children and the elderly are more susceptible.

    A few days prior to the latest incident in Wisconsin, a Michigan couple found a live spider in a bag of red grapes purchased in Brighton. In St. Louis, two more black widows were found in red grape containers in early October. In Minnesota, a spider was found in a crate of grapes at a school in Maplewood.

    Aldi has pledged to use additional inspection procedures to help prevent any future spider incidents.

    Black widows aren’t aggressive by nature, though will bite if cornered. One shouldn’t handle the spiders, and the best thing to do is to trap them in some sort of container, and move them outside.

    The practice of using the spiders on farms in place of pesticides might explain their appearances in grocery stores, as of late. A decade ago, customers had complained about finding black widows in bundles of grapes purchased at Tesco supermarkets in the United Kingdom. A grape farmer later admitted to purposely using the black widows to control pests.

    Incidentally, the UK has recently had its own problem with a widow spider of the “false” variety, after an infestation of the species shut down a school. Though, English false widows, of the genus Steatoda, are far less harmful to humans than the famous black widow of the Americas. Some members of the false widow genus can inflict bites which are medically significant in humans, though they generally don’t have any long-lasting effects.

    Symptoms of black widow bites are a bit more pronounced, and typically include fever and swelling. Victims should apply ice to the bite, and also consult with a doctor to obtain anti-venom.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.