A mother was left horrified after discovering live bugs wriggling in her Sainsbury's risotto rice as she prepared dinner for her family.

Nicola Jarvis, 49, from Margate, bought the £2.40 box of Arborio Risotto Rice from a Sainsbury's in Ramsgate earlier this month.

The mother-of-five was cooking a bacon and pea risotto when she spotted the insects crawling around her frying pan.

She said: 'When I looked at the dish I couldn't believe my eyes.

'It was crawling with insects and made me feel sick.' 

What's more, the mother became even more furious when she noticed that the rice - which had a 'best before' of 26 July 2025 - was well within date.

Left with no other option, Nicola decided to throw away her meal and order a takeaway kebab instead.

Nicola added: 'It just reminded me of a Bushtucker Trial on I'm A Celebrity and I started to gag. 

'I had to throw everything in the bin.' 

After ordering her takeaway, Nicola then got in touch with Sainsbury's to complain - and wanted to know how bugs had made it into the rice box. 

She continued: 'All they said was sorry they had ruined my evening and offered me a £5 voucher as compensation. 

'I didn't want a voucher, I wanted an explanation of how live insects got into a sealed container in a supermarket.'

Blasting Sainsbury's response, Nicola added: 'People pay a lot of money for food nowadays and wherever you buy it from you expect it to be edible and not crawling with bugs.' 

The mother-of-five was cooking a bacon and pea risotto when she spotted the insects (pictured) crawling around her frying pan 

The mother-of-five was even more furious when she noticed that the risotto rice was 'best before' July 2025

After ordering her takeaway, Nicola (pictured) then got in touch with Sainsbury's to complain - and wanted to know how bugs had made it into the rice box

A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: 'We are in contact with Nichola to apologise for this rare experience.

'We have processes in place to prevent this from happening and we are investigating this case with our supplier.'

What's more, Nichola has also reported the incident to Thanet District Council Environmental Health.

A council spokesperson said: 'TDC's Environmental Health team has received a complaint from a member of the public relating to contaminated rice.

'Complaints are assessed according to key criteria, including risk to public health and the number of people potentially at risk.

'Council officers will investigate the complaint, and if necessary, will visit the premises where the product was bought.'

Last August, another British shopper was stunned after finding an insect in the packaging for their organic broccoli.