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A Dublin woman is accusing Lucky Supermarket in San Ramon of dropping the ball — twice — when she discovered moths and maggots in bags of Sun Valley slivered almonds. The grocery store said the goods in question were removed and that the manufacturer is conducting an investigation.
Vicki Brown stopped by Lucky on San Ramon Valley Boulevard Friday.
“I did some shopping, picked up a bag of Sun Valley slivered almonds, took it home,” she said. “I was about to open the bag and disc some moths fluttering around in the top of the bag.”
Brown went back to the store with her husband to return the bag and was told the stock would be moved.
“Later that evening, my husband and I returned to the store and noticed none of the bags had been pulled,” Brown said. “Not only did he find moths inside the store, he also found maggots in some of the bags.”
Again, the manager promised the stock would be moved.
“I went down the following morning and they were still there,” Brown said.
She said KTVU was at the store, along with San Ramon City Councilman Dave Hudson, who promised to bring the issue to local health authorities.
While the San Ramon branch of Lucky declined to comment, a corporate spokesman, Louie Yan, said the almonds had been moved, but identical bags from the store’s stockroom were brought out.
A statement from Lucky’s corporate offices said “the clerks at the Lucky store on San Ramon Boulevard immediately inspected and replaced all the product on the rack with fresh merchandise on Friday evening, and again on Saturday morning. All the packages on the racks were within code and not expired.”
The statement went on to say that as of Sunday, all the packages of the almonds in question were removed.
“Although the bags are sealed and there is no possibility of cross-contamination, the store is sanitizing the rack and display bins,” the report stated.
Brown said that’s not what she saw.
“They never pulled the product,” she said.
Yan is adamant that the stock was replaced.
“I’m not going to get into a ‘she said, he said’ thing here. That’s counterproductive,” Yan said.
Brown just wants to know where the insects came from.
“I’m not sure whether it’s happening in the orchard, in the packing plant or at Lucky itself,” she said. “Hopefully this will get looked into.”
A statement from Lucky on Monday said all the stores are pulling the almonds from their shelves.
“Sun Valley is conducting an investigation and will advise us of the final disposition of the products our company has voluntarily withdrawn,” it stated. “Consistent with our procedure for any recall, we have posted signs in the areas where this merchandise is stocked to inform our customers.”
I suspect that the moths found in the bag of almonds at Lucky’s are grain moths. They are more commonly found in bags of flour, grains and birdseed. The “maggots” in question are the pupal form of the moths. I saw the story on KTVU news, and this is exactly what they looked like.
The manufacturer most likely packages mixes of foods that contain grains and/or seeds, and that is how the contamination began.
This made the news? It must have been a slow night! As disgusting as it is, it is not uncommon for nuts to have this sort of infestation – especially when they are stored in bins (which it sounds like was not the case here).
But the news? Seriously?
I am not surprised at all. That store has always had an odd smell to it and I hate to even shop there. There has been several times I purchased canned goods at the store only to find an expired date on the can. Some of the clerks are really nice but some of them just look like they hate to be there.
The stores are RARELY to blame in these situations. Remember the Target incident in San Ramon a year or so back with the maggots in the baby food?
Contamination is most likely from the manufacturing or bottling plant. If there is contamination inside the sealed packaging, you can almost be sure that it did not come from the store, but from when the food was being prepped.
Look at the bright side – at least you know that the company does not use pesticides.
Does anyone besides me find the following behaviour atypical? Three trips back to the same store in San Ramon from Dublin!
“Brown went back to the store with her husband to return the bag and was told the stock would be moved.
“Later that evening, my husband and I returned to the store and noticed none of the bags had been pulled,”
“I went down the following morning and they were still there,” Brown said.
Mmmmm. Great on casseroles! A few little bugs – come on lady, buck up! Methinks Duffy is right.
You want to be grossed out? Years back I used to buy frozen pre-packaged New Zealand green mussels and broil them in the oven. About the fourth time I bought them, and after using the first half of the pack, I discovered what I thought was a baby mussel clinging in a frozen state to the outside of a bigger shell. Hmmm, this little mussel has legs. And antennae.
First time I saw a kiwi cockroach, but that is exactly what it was.
I mailed it in a padded envelope back to the importer, suggesting they try a little garlic, fresh pepper, and low heat. Never heard back. Guess they didn’t care for my serving suggestions.
Duffy,
What do you find odd about someone going from Dublin to San Ramon? If you stand on the south side of the parking lot at that Lucky’s and look across the street, you are looking at Dublin.
Why go back to the store twice to see if the product was removed? Maybe the store inspected the items on the shelf and determined it was an isolated case, I would think its their choice to sell or remove, not the customer. A few bugs will not hurt you, may gross you out but if you want to be sick, look at where the fish comes from and understand there are few regulations where that product is produced.
I agree with Duffy. Sounds like the Mr. and Mrs. Brown have too much time on their hands. I appreciate them notifying the store, but to go back two additional times is a little ridiculous.
I assume that bugs and/or maggots are not included in the list of ingredients or otherwise mentioned on the products’ labeling. If that is indeed the case, the product must be removed from the shelf and a product recall is in order because, by definition, it is adulterated. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are justified in their actions, although a complaint to the Department of Health and Human Services will likely yield the desired results much more quickly.