KEY POINTS:
Biosecurity experts should know today whether an exotic pest has got into the country after an Invercargill pair got a nasty surprise with their lollipops.
Siblings Cohen and Janita Brown were delving into a tin of Chuppa Chups they had won in a contest when they found them crawling with ants.
Cohen told the Southland Times he felt something crawling around in his mouth, and when he took the lollipop out he found ants were crawling on the lolly and the stick.
About 30 to 40 ants, and eggs, were discovered in the container.
The Chuppa Chups were imported from Spanish manufacturers by New Zealand distributor Brandlines.
Brandlines business director Russell Wilson told the Herald the company was "reasonably confident" the ants did not get in from its end.
"We have checked other stock from the batch and there is no sign [of ants] at all."
A Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry spokeswoman said the ants were being examined and the species should be known by today.
If they were not "local" ants, a "traceback" would be done to determine their source and how they got into New Zealand.
Other measures may need to be taken over imports of the product.
"We take this sort of thing very seriously," the spokeswoman said.
TV network C4, which provided the prize, said the container had been already sealed when it arrived at C4.
