Asda shopper spots worms bursting out of roast chicken – after she's eaten it

14 December 2023 , 16:03

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Vanessa Lucus-Smith is waiting for a refund from ASDA after she found live mealworms in her food (Image: Kennedy News and Media)

A mum says she was left feeling "gut-wrenchingly sick" after she cut open a roast chicken from ASDA and reportedly saw it was "full of mealworms".

Vanessa Lucas-Smith, who lives in Isle of Dogs, London, made the "revolting" discovery after already eating some of the 'Succulent Extra Tasty Small Whole Chicken in a bag' last week on December 4. She said she thought she had made a "normal family dinner" until her ex-husband carved the meat to make seconds and spotted the creepy crawlies spilling out. Miraculously, the £4.40 chicken didn't cause any illnesses, but did leave the family feeling "queasy."

Vanessa said her two children have been put off from eating chicken (Kennedy News and Media)

Vanessa realised the stomach hadn't been taken out (Kennedy News and Media)

Vanessa, who is a mum to Daniel Lucas-Smith, 2, and Cleo Lucas-Ibrihim, 5, said her daughter has been put off from eating chicken ever again. Explaining what happened, she said: "The kid's dad had come down from Preston to visit them so I thought I'd do a roast because everyone likes that.

"I cooked the dinner as normal and got all the bits and pieces like potatoes and cauliflower cheese and I cut up the chicken and initially didn't notice anything. So I cut the chicken, served it out and we all ate the chicken, which I now feel gut-wrenchingly sick about."

She added: "And then my ex-partner went through to the kitchen for a bit more, then he carved it up and discovered the stomach. He told me to come into the kitchen and I thought 'is this chicken stuffed'?

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"Then I looked at it and thought it was the stomach. It's disgusting they left it in there. We looked closer and at first, I thought it was full of maggots but then we realised it was full of mealworms and you can see chicken grain in there too. "

She added: "We opened the stomach up a bit and all the mealworms came out. It was so revolting. They all stayed intact despite being cooked. It was rank, it was really disgusting." Asda claim the creatures are the larvae of the litter beetle, also known as the darkling beetle or lesser mealworms, which are known pests that can harbour various pathogens, including Salmonella, E- coli and avian flu.

Vanessa cooked the chicken on December 4 (Kennedy News and Media)

The chicken costed just over £4 (Kennedy News and Media)

It is believed they managed to hitch a ride onto the family's dinner table because, according to the supermarket, part of the chicken's stomach wasn't removed during the manufacturing process. The mum said she is waiting for a refund from the supermarket. "We thought this is disgraceful and we took some pictures to show Asda what it is," she said.

"I thought this is awful because we don't know what's going into the food chain. This is how serious illnesses start. We're all really grossed out - I felt bad everyone had eaten some. I know my daughter will never eat chicken again after that.

"No one was ill but we all felt really queasy. We're not going to touch chicken for a long time. Considering how serious this is, they [Asda] need to get onto this quickly. It's outrageous this is happening. It's not acceptable."

Vanessa posted the repulsive photos online, garnering more than 2,500 shares as social media users flocked to the comment section to share their outrage. One person wrote: "That's disgusting. Can you imagine how your stomach must have been turning?"

Another said: "Question is, what is it being fed? Leaving stomach/guts in is unforgivable." A third wrote: "I got chills all over, just yuk. I would have collapsed."

An Asda spokesperson said: "We always want our customers to be pleased with the products they buy from Asda so we are disappointed that Ms. Lucas-Smith has purchased a product which falls below our high expectations. We have apologised to her and offered a full refund as well as a gesture of goodwill. It appears that a key stage in the preparation of this product has been missed and we are investigating how this could have happened with our supplier."

Monica Charsley