Wellington shoppers find small bug inside their Whittaker’s chocolate. Video / Supplied
Members from a Wellington flat were left feeling icky after discovering a wriggly maggot on the inside of a block of Whittaker’s chocolate.
On Sunday, the flatmates went to a supermarket in Wellington City before returning home with their Berry and Biscuit chocolate bar.
But when they opened it up, they were met with a yucky surprise - a crawling yellow maggot feasting on the inside.
“My flatmate opened the chocolate and noticed cobweb-type things and thought ‘Ew I don’t want to eat this’, then she opened it a bit more and that was when she saw the bug,” the woman, who wants to remain anonymous, told the Herald.
“She walked in to my room immediately and says ‘There’s a maggot in my chocolate’. We showed our other flatmate and that was when we took the video I posted.”
The woman claimed Whittaker’s told her on the phone the issue would have been “with the warehouse” at the supermarket she purchased it at and that Whittaker’s was not at fault.
She claims Whittaker’s explained it was a common moth larvae and that they can eat their way into packaging.
In a statement to the Herald, Whittaker’s said they have rigorous quality control processes, but rarely things outside their control can cause situations like this.
“We’re sorry to hear that this situation has occurred and that a Whittaker’s Chocolate Lover has experienced the disappointment of not being able to consume the bar they purchased. Unfortunately, despite all the rigorous quality control processes we have in place, there are things outside of our control that can result in a situation like this (albeit very rarely).
“We have a comprehensive pest control programme in place at our factory, which is run by an accredited pest control company, and our operations are fully compliant with all food safety requirements. However, there are other ways product quality can be affected, for example from damage in transit or storage conditions in warehouses.
“We have thoroughly investigated this specific situation and remain confident in the robustness of the quality control processes we have in place. We have also sent the consumer who purchased this bar, some replacement chocolate.”
The video was posted online, with people from the Wellington community saying, “F*** that”.
Another wrote “hell no”, while others joked about the “extra protein”.
Despite the incident, the woman says it won’t stop her from eating Whittaker’s in the future, but hopes their situation will raise awareness for those stocking food items to store them more carefully.
