A northern suburbs shopper has revealed her shock at discovering “maggots” in the roast chicken she purchased from a Woolworths supermarket.
The Leederville resident, who requested to be referred to as Sarah, purchased the popular deli item at Mt Hawthorn’s The Mezz shopping centre.
Picking up the chicken on Wednesday afternoon, the busy working mother immediately consumed half at home, before leaving the remaining portion for her family dinner.
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The gruesome discovery was made only when her husband re-heated the chicken that evening — though not before he too had eaten a portion.
In a state of panic, Sarah’s husband told her to “go throw up, you don’t know what bacteria is in there”.
“We were just Googling the risks,” she recalled.
After putting her kids to bed that night, the mother emailed the store expressing her “deep concern and disappointment”.
She requested they “investigate this matter promptly and take the necessary actions to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future”.
An email response by Woolworth’s customer service team was received early the next day, though Sarah felt it lacked the appropriate care and may have been “AI-generated”.
“It is concerning to hear that the product did not meet our high standards for quality control as they were live maggots,” the email read.
“I would like to sincerely apologise for the experience and inconvenience caused.
“I can imagine how disappointing this was for you. Please be assured that Woolworths takes all feedback such as yours very seriously.”
The email continued to say the issue had been “forwarded” to the store’s manager for a response within “the next 2-3 days”.
Unsatisfied by the virtual response, Sarah visited the store shortly afterwards to speak directly to the manager.
“I could tell he was expecting me, he wasn’t surprised,” she said.
Brandishing a video of the maggot-infested chicken to show staff, she suggested the manager was somewhat dismissive and didn’t care to watch the vision.
Offered a refund for the item, she rejected the compensation as “absolutely not good enough” and demanded her entire receipt worth $40 be reimbursed — which resulted after “a bit of back and forth”.
Concerned for the safety of others, the Leederville resident requested an explanation and a promise Woolworths would look to prevent repeat incidents.
“I haven’t heard back since,” Sarah said.
Fortunately, no adverse effects relating to the meal have since been experienced other than a newfound repulsion of the protein source.
“I’m so put off chicken,” she said.
Sharing her ordeal to Facebook, the shopper claimed friends of hers had incurred similar “maggot-filled hot chickens and minced meat” experiences at the supermarket.
“If I had gone to a restaurant, it would be such a big deal,” she argued.
A Woolworths spokesperson responded to PerthNow’s request for comment in relation to Sarah’s experience.
“We take food quality and safety very seriously and have raised this with our deli team and supplier,” they said.
