WATCH: Mouse scurries through salad at Countdown Eastgate
Mouse spotted in potato and kumara salad, Countdown Eastgate.
A video has emerged of a mouse scurrying across salads in the deli section at Eastgate Countdown.
A tourist cycling through New Zealand captured the moment and posted it to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.
The tourist said in the post, "Suddenly I noticed something moving, and it turned out to be a mouse.”
The video shows the mouse emerging from between a section of potato and kumara before climbing to the rim of the salad bowl.
Mouse in salad shared on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.
Woolworths New Zealand director of stores Jason Stockill confirmed to Newshub that a live mouse was discovered in the salad section of the deli last Wednesday night.
Stockill said it was reported to Rentokil, an exterminating and pest control company, which identified some entry points that have now been sealed.
"We would like to apologise to our customers for this incident and reassure them that food safety remains a focus for us," Stockill said.
"While rodent control is an ongoing focus for the food industry and we believe this was an isolated incident, we take this extremely seriously and are reviewing our pest management control programme for the store alongside Rentokil.
"Our store team work hard every day to maintain our high standards for cleanliness and work closely with pest control services to manage rodent populations that can be found in urban areas,” he said.
New Zealand Food Safety said in a statement it was concerned about the Eastgate incident given the ongoing issue at Countdown Dunedin South and has asked parent company Woolworths to provide more information.
The Dunedin South store is currently closed for pest control work after rats were discovered.
A Woolworths New Zealand spokesperson said today, "With our increased pest management and the uncovering of the extra entry points, there were 13 rats caught over the weekend."
The Dunedin South Countdown infestation became apparent after a photo leaked to the Otago Daily Times last month showed a rat in one of the supermarket's chillers.
