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Ontario Woman Finds a Black Widow Spider in Grapes From Walmart
A woman from Oakville Ontario say she totally freaked out after she found a black widow spider in a bag of grapes that her husband bought from Walmart a day earlier.
Ginette Guidi told CTV News that she suspected something was wrong with her grapes when she noticed webs all over them, and eventually traced them back to the venomous spider that was crawling across the bag.
While finding a black widow spider in Canada is uncommon, there is one species that migrated into British Columbia and another into southern Ontario according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The CFIA reports that pests — including black widow spiders, scorpions, and iron cross blister beetles — have been found in imported grapes, berries, and leafy green vegetables.
Black widow spiders are distinctive due to their shiny round body, brown or black colour, and two reddish or yellowish triangles forming an hourglass on the underside of their abdomen.
Black Widow Spiders Rare in Ontario
The venomous spiders live in most warm regions of the eastern and central U.S., North American deserts, and southern Canada. While they are rarely found in imported grapes, the presence of the arachnids does not damage or poison the grapes.
“When grapes are harvested, they are carefully examined before being placed into their packaging; however, some spiders may camouflage with the grape vines and escape being found,” the agency says.
“Refrigeration of the product prior to being transported reduces the spiders’ activity, making them harder to detect.”
The black widow spider is not normally aggressive but may bite in self-defence. In most cases, the symptoms following a bite are a sharp pain followed by localized swelling and redness. Thankfully, in Guidi’s case, no one was injured or bitten by the spider.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a shopper in Ontario has found a black widow spider in their produce.
Other pesky incidences
Back in October 2023, a customer discovered the hair-raising creature in a pack of green grapes from President’s Choice, although the original poster did not clarify which supermarket chain the grapes were purchased from.
In another case the month prior, a shopper found a dead scorpion in a pack of raspberries from Metro. The creepy critter appeared to be a striped bark scorpion, which is common throughout the U.S. and Mexico where the raspberries came from.
If you find any of these pests in your food, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recommends reporting it to confirm the species. After reporting it, the agency says black widow spiders, scorpions, or blister beetles should be “promptly” killed and carefully disposed of, ensuring that a barrier (such as a glove or a fly swatter) is used between the insect and your skin.
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