GREENVILLE, Mich. — Julie Kent, of Greenville, just wanted to do something special for her family this Valentine’s Day.
She said she bought some chocolates for them a week ago, and she decided to take a bite for herself.
That’s when she found out alone.
“I opened it up, put it in my mouth and noticed it had a weird texture and taste to it,” she added.
She said she found several insects.
“And we kept opening them, opening them, opening them, worm after worm,” she explained.
She said she bought the pre-packaged bag about a week ago. After seeing the creepy crawlers, she said her daughter went on YouTube and found other people who’ve experienced the same problem with chocolate.
“Woe, there’s a big one right there crawling across the thing,” she pointed out.
Kent said she called The Hershey Company to put in a complaint; however she said the representative put the blame on her.
FOX 17 went on YouTube and found at least a dozen videos posted by people who had similar experiences.
“It was basically… it was how you stored them and I don’t know what they are but if people are finding these in different states, I don’t understand how it can be blamed on me,” she said.
While her Valentine’s Day took an unexpected turn, she’s decided to lay low from the chocolate this occasion and is offering a little advice.
“Don’t just pop a kiss into your mouth, open it up, look at it before you put it in your mouth,” she advised.
FOX 17 reached out to Hershey on the matter. They haven’t returned our call yet.
Combing the internet, FOX 17 found that this occurrence isn’t out of the ordinary. Factors that can contribute to bug-contaminated packaging includes how they are stored and if there is an opening in that packaging (allowing bugs to gain access).
20 Comments to “Insects Infest Greenville Woman’s Chocolates”
February 14, 2013 at 8:57 PM
This is just gross….Hershey should be reimbursing people for this. It shouldn't matter how you store them. If the bag hasn't been opened the problem was there when it left their facility….
February 15, 2013 at 10:54 AM
thank you
February 16, 2013 at 9:41 PM
100% true this is gross
February 14, 2013 at 9:14 PM
She should take them back to the store, but that bag packaging is the Christmas wrap not Valentines.
February 14, 2013 at 10:59 PM
That's what happens when Hersey started making all their chocolate in Mexico about three years ago. They move all their factories to this country with no FDA, cheap labor and little quality control for more profit. Try another company, maybe one who actually makes their chocolate here in the good old US of A.
February 14, 2013 at 11:14 PM
The candy that they was showing was the Christmas packaging.
February 15, 2013 at 12:30 AM
The expiration date was November 2013. It doesn't matter what the bag was.
February 15, 2013 at 1:12 AM
As she said she bought them a week ago when a majority of stores pull their holiday candy after that certain holiday for example Christmas. I mean really go to any store right now and see if there is any Christmas candy left. What usually doesn't get sold by the first week of Jan gets pulled. I worked in retail and in a number of different stores and with each one this had always been the rule. Second chances are she opened this bag long before last week, stored in a cupboard where there are pantry moth larvae and thus the buggers got in and finally she said her daughter checked out youtube to see if other people are experiencing this.. Which sounds to me like she was sniffing for a lawsuit of some sort. Reason being because most of those folks who had this happen to them had been fishy characters themselves. And finally does everyone remember the finger in the Wendy's Chili Bit. Yup enough said.
February 15, 2013 at 10:40 AM
i bought them from a local retailer and let me explain to you there is still christmas candys out there and i didnt know they were christmas i just took a package from the bin i dont pay attention to the outside of packages tomuch
February 15, 2013 at 10:52 AM
NO i am not looking for a lawsuit, no i didnt open them buggrs and leave them or what ever, i have the reciept when i bought them so excuse you actually, i did not pay attention to th candies they were in a bin at my local retailers and i just bought them, i didn't even ask for a differnt bag i just wanted to know what they are adn if they could harm you and i didnt want other people to eat them and get ill, why in the heck do you assume i am after anything you obvisouly don't know me therefore don't judge me. I am a good person and i do alot of help for people elderly and homeless ext. i am not out for anything but awareness, thank you…. ps experation date is 11 of 2013. and i acan show you store that still have chrismtas candy, and lol i dont know where you from i am from a small town and lol they still sell halloween candies
February 15, 2013 at 7:51 AM
There is no way she bought these at a Big Box retailer "just last week" Christmas candy from those stores was long gone a few days after Christmas. Now, if she got them at a dollar/discount store – we have no way of knowing how that stuff was stored or if they were "seconds" that were shipped in just for that retailer. Blech. Would seem the store would refund the purchase price. Can't blame Hershey for no comment.
February 15, 2013 at 10:42 AM
excuse me ye si did and i have the reciept to prove this, by the way this is julie and let me tell you there is many stores with christams candy stilland other holiday candy outt here, i still see halloween candy for sale, just becuase you dont see it still in the bi towns stores out here in the country they still have it out andit wa tossd in with other candys
February 15, 2013 at 10:46 AM
My name is julie and I am the one who brought this to attention, i want these people to look up hershey candies and worms and you would be amazed how many candies have been found like this, is it my fault no it is not, i didnt pay attention to the package but it didnt even matter they dont out date till end of 2013 anyways but i bought them from a candy bin at a major local retailer and yes you can still find christmas candys and no ididnt even realize they were chrismtas one but i also have my reciept to prove when i purchased them.. it didnt come from this store it came from hershey so take the time to look up hershey candies and worms in them you will be amazed.
February 15, 2013 at 11:35 AM
gross !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 15, 2013 at 1:42 PM
It's really sad when someone is trying to let people know about this and then slammed for doing so. I do know that I found a worm sealed inside of a slice of Kraft cheese before. I also know the news might do an inteview and it can take 20 minutes or longer but then the viewers might be lucky enough to see a full minute of it. They cut and edit things. I'm sure Julie will agree with this. I think people shoudn't be so quick to judge not knowing all the facts. It don't matter if it was in a Christmas wrappers or not, it didn't exspire till 11/2013 and she has the reciept proving she just purchesed it recently. If it was due to her storage it would take a bit longer to have them infested like they were.
February 15, 2013 at 5:12 PM
It takes less than 30 days for a Pantry Moth to complete it's cycle… It's a known fact. Meaning it would take a little less than two weeks to infest like that. and that's another thing if the package was infested like that, they would have broken through the pieces of foil and would have been moving around in the bag. You honestly can not tell me when you picked the bag up that you didn't notice it, anyone with two eyes would notice that especially if you went through checkout or had gotten the bag home and put it away. At some point in your trip you would have noticed seeing as there would have been some sort of hole or the bag would have been poorly taped up.
February 16, 2013 at 9:59 AM
Thanks Julie for sharing, I know I will be checking my candy before eating. Anyone who knows you knows you are not out for anything but to make people be aware of the problem. Keep your chin up. There are a lot of people out there that just misunderstand things or are quick to judge.
February 16, 2013 at 9:38 PM
after seeing this story I was very leary of eating the chocolate I bought on valentines day. Well I bought a container of imperial cashews and I bit in half and was eating it and looked at the other half and it had something in the middle so I opened it up to find 3 skins of what used to be worms and some of the chocolate on others were eaten. So they cant blame that on her this is crazy I want to puke. Check all your chocolate candy.
February 19, 2013 at 2:38 PM
Hershey moved their kiss making operations to Mexico, check the back of your candy bags.
"The company said it will outsource production of low value-added items and also plans to construct a new plan in Monterrey, Mexico to meet growing demand in that country."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252139,00.htm…
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