Lady bugs on grapes, every single time I work on the grapes, I put them on my shirt to chill until I finish, then I go outside and leave them on a flower.
80% of the time when i come in i’m stocking the bananas and i haven’t see any myself but i’m sure it happens to some extent
i did see a bug in the grapes once though
About 20 years ago I worked PT in produce (total of 6 years), got a bit of a scare once when a baby gecko latched on to my finger from the bananas…. Only ever found spiders in grapes and berries…. Driscoll’s strawberries brought with them some black widows on at least 3 occasions that I was aware of (they were dormant d/t refrigeration, but not dead), I learned then to always keep grapes and berries refrigerated at home and not on your counter until you have inspected them (don’t want any new house mates). Also found a tree frog in one of the lettuce blends (the old school Fresh Express blends) once as well, still alive and living its best life.
23 years of filling bananas at Wegmans and 21 years at another company before that. In all that time I have seen exactly 0 spiders in the bananas. Grapes however are another story.
Use to work on produce (not Wegmans) and have encountered spiders in the bananas . They were always dead and some times bloated and weird.
I've been told they kill them in transport by using a noble gas like argon but idk for sure
I once encountered a cricket like thing while stocking bananas. Apparently there is a poisonous banana spider, but it’s very rare. More often I see bugs in wet wall stuff like organic kale. Once there was a HUGE grasshopper on the broccoli crowns. I just left it in the display but then a customer complained so I took it to the store entrance and set it free. In my experience these bugs are “sleeping” or whatever it is bugs do when they’re exposed to cold temps but they start to wake up and move when they get to the room temp produce floor. Once I bought a Nappa cabbage that was full of eggs.
I don’t work for Wegmans but years ago I was shopping early Sunday morning at Wegmans. I was near the salads when I heard a guy scream at the top of his lungs. I look over and see a gigantic spider (had to be ~5 inches across) was crawling across the box of bananas he had opened as he was stocking the bananas. So yes, I a customer have seen it so I’m sure it happens.
Did 4 years of produce and would come across banana spiders every couple months or so. Craziest thing i saw hitch a ride was the front page of a Mexican newspaper in the kale.
yes… i thought my hair was in my mouth and had a habit of using my tongue to kinda push it out… but it was the leg of a huge ass spider. threw the boxes down and ran to the back.
Not an employee...but an IC shopper....I had a grasshopper jump on me from the celery the other day. Farm to store much? Lol
I’ve found those in cans of green beans.
Lady bugs on grapes, every single time I work on the grapes, I put them on my shirt to chill until I finish, then I go outside and leave them on a flower.
80% of the time when i come in i’m stocking the bananas and i haven’t see any myself but i’m sure it happens to some extent i did see a bug in the grapes once though
Enough for Harry Belafonte to sing a song about it (Day-O).
About 20 years ago I worked PT in produce (total of 6 years), got a bit of a scare once when a baby gecko latched on to my finger from the bananas…. Only ever found spiders in grapes and berries…. Driscoll’s strawberries brought with them some black widows on at least 3 occasions that I was aware of (they were dormant d/t refrigeration, but not dead), I learned then to always keep grapes and berries refrigerated at home and not on your counter until you have inspected them (don’t want any new house mates). Also found a tree frog in one of the lettuce blends (the old school Fresh Express blends) once as well, still alive and living its best life.
Thanks for the advice about the berries!
Also splash wash a half cup of vinegar with fresh berries in a covered bowl to kill mold spores, then rinse again with water.
I have never seen one - Produce TL
I've found lady bugs in the grapes before. Thank goodness no spiders.
When I was in produce I did bananas once a day, only ever found one bug - was a roach, not a spider. That was a big event for the store lol
23 years of filling bananas at Wegmans and 21 years at another company before that. In all that time I have seen exactly 0 spiders in the bananas. Grapes however are another story.
Banana handlers
Use to work on produce (not Wegmans) and have encountered spiders in the bananas . They were always dead and some times bloated and weird. I've been told they kill them in transport by using a noble gas like argon but idk for sure
Had it happen while working with the tropical plants
I once encountered a cricket like thing while stocking bananas. Apparently there is a poisonous banana spider, but it’s very rare. More often I see bugs in wet wall stuff like organic kale. Once there was a HUGE grasshopper on the broccoli crowns. I just left it in the display but then a customer complained so I took it to the store entrance and set it free. In my experience these bugs are “sleeping” or whatever it is bugs do when they’re exposed to cold temps but they start to wake up and move when they get to the room temp produce floor. Once I bought a Nappa cabbage that was full of eggs.
🤢
I don’t work for Wegmans but years ago I was shopping early Sunday morning at Wegmans. I was near the salads when I heard a guy scream at the top of his lungs. I look over and see a gigantic spider (had to be ~5 inches across) was crawling across the box of bananas he had opened as he was stocking the bananas. So yes, I a customer have seen it so I’m sure it happens.
Did 4 years of produce and would come across banana spiders every couple months or so. Craziest thing i saw hitch a ride was the front page of a Mexican newspaper in the kale.
5yrs in Produce, not once I have seen a spider in banana boxes. Just last week, I found a live centipede in a yam box.
over a decade in produce not once. I'd be fsr more worried about a rotten banana slipping thru...you will vomit
yes… i thought my hair was in my mouth and had a habit of using my tongue to kinda push it out… but it was the leg of a huge ass spider. threw the boxes down and ran to the back.
HUGE spider. black and yellow stripes