Student Josie Wright returned from a Sainsbury’s Local in London when she noticed the £2.40 bag of granola she’d purchased was moving.
The 16-year-old initially believed there was a bug trapped inside the Raisin, Nut & Honey granola, before she claims she heard ‘munching and chewing’ sounds.
Shocking footage shows oat clusters moving within the sealed bag, accompanied by scratching sounds seemingly coming from the item.
Horrified, the teen told her mum Lindsay Wright about the unexpected find and the pair rushed back to Sainsbury’s to return the granola.
The family believe a baby field mouse somehow crawled inside the 1kg bag before it was sealed during the packaging process.
Josie and Lindsay Wright feared there may be unwanted pests in other granola packets, but said they’ve been reassured by Sainsbury’s that the matter was being dealt with internally.
Sainsbury’s said they were “urgently investigating” the matter with their supplier.
Josie, who lives in Southgate, London, said: “I got straight up in the morning and went to the shop. It was about 10am.
“This is the granola we always buy, we’ve never had any problems with it before.
“We didn’t notice anything when we were in the shop, it wasn’t moving or anything. When we scanned the item, it didn’t come up as heavier.
“When I was walking home, I didn’t notice anything. I got back home, took the granola out the bag and saw it was moving and making sounds.
“I thought it might have been the granola setting at first so left it for five minutes but then heard munching sounds.
“I was trying to figure out what it was. I considered the fact it could’ve been a bug or something but you could hear it chewing. I immediately knew it must’ve been a rodent.
“I was really disgusted and quite shocked, no-one expects to find a mouse in their granola.
“We think it was a baby field mouse or something. We have no idea how it got in there – we think it may have been a factory problem.
“Looking in the bag, you could see half eaten oats, we think it was trying to get out.
“It was horrendous. We were more concerned about the fact that mouse droppings are quite dangerous and if you consume them they can be deadly.”
Communications director Lindsay Wright returned home from walking the dog to find Josie horrified by the find.
Lindsay, 56, said: “I’d been out walking the dog and came home and Josie said the granola was moving.
“I could hear a kind of crackling sound and when I looked more closely I could see movement. It was a little bit alarming.
“It’s an occupational hazard. That granola contained a lot of raisins and sultanas, so I can see how you might not necessarily notice it.
“I think Sainsbury’s want to be checking their processes and making sure it doesn’t happen again. Luckily we didn’t eat it and saw it before we opened the packet.”
The family returned the sealed packet to Sainsbury’s as well as reporting the issue to customer services.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “Nothing is more important to us than the quality and safety of our products and we’re sorry that our usual high standards were not met on this occasion.
“We’re urgently investigating this with our supplier and have requested permission to reach out to the customer so we can look into this case further.”
