Woman surprised to find a dead newt in her chicken salad

An woman got more than she bargained for when she found a dead newt in her lunchtime snack. Ruby Long, from Old Windsor, Berkshire, made the grim discovery after she bought a Harissa Chicken Flatbread Salad from the Co-op store in Windsor last Thursday.



After buying her lunch, 20-year-old Ruby returned to her office and was about to tuck in when she spotted the deceased creature in the filling. Ruby said: “The wrap had moved around a bit on the walk back so I moved a bit of the chicken and found a dead newt in the filling. I was sitting there speechless and my colleague asked what was up with me. We both couldn’t believe it.



“If I hadn’t rearranged the filling I definitely would’ve eaten it without knowing.” Ruby got her friend to return the salad to the store immediately. Shop staff said it would be frozen and sent to head office for inspection and then offered a coupon to apologise. But Ruby said she wants to know how a dead newt could make it past the store’s safety checks. She added: “I shouldn’t have given them the evidence because now they can just pretend like nothing’s happened. They think settling it with a coupon is justifiable.



“I want to know how on earth it managed to get there and what checks they are carrying out because if a newt can get in there who knows what else could?” A statement from Co-op said the contaminated product had now been returned to its supplier, which has agreed to investigate the matter. It added: "A complaint was made in store by a customer. We have given them a full apology and refund, along with a gesture of goodwill in light of the distress and inconvenience this issue may have caused."