Where do you buy your grapes?

[janh]

If it's from Tesco be very very afraid!

Argh! Have just sent dh into the fridge to check ours. We got 2 big bunches yesterday!

EEEP! [shudders violently]

um... sainsburys don't get their grapes from the same supplier do they?!!!

There's an interesting side to this though. Grape producers in California are using the spiders as a highly effective, eco-friendly insect control system. It has really cut down on the pesticides used in production. BUT they are supposed to be checking those grapes manually and bunch by bunch before they are sent out...I would guess any UK supermarket sourcing its grapes from California could be affected.

I think that they are supposed to be using non-poisonous spiders and ladybirds. But its hard to encourage the safe varieties while discouraging the dangerous varieties.

Mmm, that's what the spokesperson said - about the eco-friendly aspect. Thanks for mentioning that it's the Californian grapes we have to look out for, Marina, it didn't say where they were from in the piece I read.

Take your choice, pesticides on your grapes or a black widow spider in your sink!

Oh no! Just ordered some grapes from Tesco.com, is it too late to cancel?

Tissy: get the delivery man to thoroughly search your shopping bags before they cross the threshhold

Black widow spiders bites aren't so bad. it's the brown recluse spider you've got to watch out for.

(Says the native Californian. I've only once ever seen one in the wild).

We were raised to watch out for B.Widows around dry wood; presumably the spiders are getting into the packing crates.

What are you all complaining about ? It's not often that you get a freebie with grapes !

And actually - my grapes just arrived from Tesco.com - sadly no free gift this time though !

ah but sobernow they're even more lethal once made into wine

I would guess that your chances of not only getting a bunch of grapes with a black widow spider, but then getting bit by the spider and then dying from it are VERY VERY VERY slim. There is probably a much higher chance of being injured/dying from driving the extra mile to a different store (that probably gets their grapes from the same place) than Tesco to buy the grapes.

ps this is part of why i don't buy organic anything. I'd rather wash off the slight residue of pesticide that remains than fight through the creepy crawlies etc. in organic produce. Not to mention that I am very allergic to sulfites which are one of the main "approved" pesticides allowed for use with organic fruit/veg, and isn't used much in non-organic farming. If your child has asthma, you might want to think twice about organic produce as it is very common for asthmatics (like me) to be allergic to sulfites.

Sofia - didn't know that about sulfides. Was feeling guilty because I've always bought organic for a while now but budget just doesn't stretch anymore. Won't feel quite as guilty now!

(I should have added to that last message that I'm asthmatic - makes more sense to the context!)

Dh noticed the news item just as the sluglet was posting her third grape of the day down the endless pit that is her fat gob. (It was 8am and already she was grazing)

We briefly stopped to have a look, but anyone touching her precious grapes gets subjected to a high pitched wail at maximum volume. It's so loud that any spiders that lasted the journey are probably dead by now

Hmmm... we get through a lot of Tesco grapes since dd figured out that it was quicker to get them out of the fridge herself rather than waiting for lazy mummy to shift her a*e off the sofa and fetch them for her. Maybe I'd better make dh check the bag thoroughly when he brings it home from Tescos each Saturday morning .

SofiaAmes, I have noticed that the wording re pesticides on bags of organic produce is a bit shifty so I have wondered what they use instead - DH is very suspicious of organics not from the UK and not over-keen on the UK stuff - maybe I'll stick to the pesticided produce in future too!

zebra, it said on the news piece that black widow venom is 15 times worse than rattlesnake venom - not that that means anything to us either - if you did get bitten (by a BW I mean, never heard of your BR!) how bad would it be?

Oh God, I've got a bag in the fridge! And, after reading this thread, I'm itching all over...bloody spider phobias

I've just finished a bag of Tescos grapes - do you mean I shouldn't have eaten that large furry one with the legs???

ROFL!

They said on tv, so it must be true, that 3 bw's have been found so far. One is now in the london zoo. They also said that the bites are only fatal in 1% of cases. A normal healthy adult will just be sick and in pain for a few days. But it could kill a child or elderly person or someone who's sickly.

One of the women who found a apider was on Five Live this morning - she gave the Tescos spokesman a hard time. But she didn't seem to traumatised by the experience - she called her friend's husband, and he "got rid of" (ie squashed) the spider!
The Tesco man advised calling the RSPCA if you find one - can't see it myself, think I'd just get something big and thick and .....WHACK!

Oh well at least its new ammunition to stop DH feeding the children grapes as we do the shopping (see early thread on grapes and theft, can't remember title). I most definitily don't do it any more but not sure you'll even find me in the fruit isle now!