Skip to main content

For Spiders in Bananas, Supermarket to Pay Family's Expenses

By Aditi Mukherji, JD on November 06, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

With the makings of a perfect post-Halloween story, a family in the UK was temporarily driven out of their home by deadly spiders that were living on their store-bought bananas.

British supermarket chain Sainsbury's says it will pay the expenses the family incurred as a result of being forced out by newly hatched Brazilian wandering spiders -- one of the world's deadliest spiders with venom that may treat erectile dysfunction...

How's that for organic?

Consumer Protection

If things were to take a turn for the dangerously organic in the U.S., American consumers would be protected by our consumer protection laws.

In general, your groceries are protected under a warranty that the food is up to snuff as advertised. When food doesn't meet that level, typically the manufacturer or seller will offer a return and refund.

For particularly egregious cases like the incredibly dangerous "banana spiders" (they don't call 'em banana spiders for nothin', eh?), legal remedies may be an option. But for the vast majority of folks, legal options are scarce.

Extra Crunchy Food

For the germophobes with a passion for quality control, it's a disheartening fact of reality that manufacturers and suppliers can't catch every unsavory "extra ingredient" in our food products all the time.

For that reason, the Food and Drug Administration actually allows bugs in your food up to a certain level, reports The Huffington Post. Your food must reach "Food Defect Action Levels" before the FDA will step in.

In spider-speak: the food must contain a certain amount of bugs or bug parts before it's deemed unsafe. Rest assured, that goes for rodent hairs, animal poop, fruit fly eggs, mold, pus pockets, and maggots too! Yum!

For example, manufacturers can't allow more than 225 bug parts in 225 grams of pasta. You won't be looking at your Spaghetti-O's in the same way, huh?

Cognizable Injury

Unless you've actually suffered an injury from the product defect -- in the British family's case, hotel, fumigation, and cleaning expenses -- legal recourse is tough to obtain.

Cognizable economic damages may include medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages.

If you've noshed on something vomit-worthy that's making you ill, you can talk to a products liability attorney about what happened -- in graphic detail (yuck).

If not, well, consider it extra protein.

Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Facebook and Twitter (@FindLawConsumer).

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard