Grapes spark supermarket redback alert in West Auckland

The Australian redback spider Debbie found. Photo / Jason Dorday

Shocked woman says live spider was in its web after she bought fruit in supermarket.

A West Auckland woman believes she may have inadvertently brought an Australian redback spider into her home after finding the specimen alive in a bag of grapes she bought at the weekend.

West Harbour resident Debbie Bellingham bought the bag of red Australian grapes from her local Countdown supermarket on Saturday.

"My daughter came down to me and goes, 'Mummy, there's a funny looking spider in the grapes, it's black and sort of orangey-red'.

"And there was this lovely looking, tiny little thing in amongst the grapes in its spider web, alive. I cut off the section of grapes it was in and stuck it in a jar."

Ms Bellingham said she then called a biosecurity hotline and was told to freeze the spider and post it to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

"I'm not sure exactly if it is an Australian redback, it could be a katipo."

A MPI spokeswoman said they were unable to confirm the species until the spider was inspected.

Mrs Bellingham said she was worried about her 3-year-old daughter, "because she was the one who had been straight in [to the grapes].

"I'm not going to buy grapes from Australia again, I'll buy ones from the US ..."

Countdown spokeswoman Kate Porter said all imported grapes were treated to kill pests in quarantine, which was administered by MPI.

Redback spiders are native to Australia and have a venom toxic to humans with bites causing severe pain.

The larger female spider is responsible for almost all cases of redback spider bites.

Established populations exist in central Otago and Taranaki.

Debbie Bellingham. Photo / Jason Dorday

MPI said grapes imported from Australia were fumigated with sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide and a proportion were visually inspected.

"Very occasionally things do get through despite treatment and inspection," a spokeswoman said.

The ministry had confirmed two other redback sightings in the past six months, a single specimen in the garden of a Rotorua resident in late January and another in an empty shipping container from Australia in Wellington last November. Both were found alive.

An Auckland District Health Board spokeswoman confirmed they had stocks of anti-venom on hand.

If people believe they have found redbacks, they can call MPI's pests and diseases hotline on (0800) 80 99 66.

Been bitten?

• Seek urgent medical attention at your nearest hospital, medical centre or doctor.
• Try to catch the culprit so it can be identified.
• Clean the wound with antiseptic or warm soapy water.
• Place ice on the bite (not directly on to the skin) before travelling.
• Do not apply pressure to the wound or consume alcohol after being bitten.