A 12-year-old girl discovered there were eight maggots in a bag of rice that she was cooking for her family dinner.
Reports say that Maisy Hollinshead, of Stockport, England, was preparing to eat the rice after cooking it in the microwave when she showed her mother something strange. Upon closer checking, Hollinshead’s mother Jenny discovered eight white lumps with brown heads inside. The family was even more disturbed after realizing they had already eaten three bags of rice from the same box.
Jenny Hollinshead says she contacted supermarket chain Morrisons right away to tell it about the rice. But instead of offering an immediate apology, the representative asked Jenny to take the bag to her local Morrisons store. The company has since apologized, but Jenny says it was only after she brought the situation to the attention of the media.
“Maisy has been checking all her food since it happened,” Jenny told the Manchester Evening News. “She’s only 12 years old and she could have very easily eaten it. At first, I got no apology, they just said they’d look into it and that’s what infuriated me. They only apologized after I contacted the paper and put something on social media, then they got back to me and apologized.”
Lorraine Dickinson, executive customer coordinator for Morrisons, wrote an email directly to Jenny expressing her concern over the situation.
“I was sorry to learn of you and your daughter’s findings when opening the rice you purchased from our store,” the email reads. “Please accept my sincere apologies for this. I did refer this matter to our Food Technical Team who have requested, so that a thorough investigation can be completed it would greatly assist if you could return the sample to ourselves for examination. Once this information is to hand, please be assured that this matter will receive our prompt attention.”