Yate couple's dead bird find in a Tesco bag of salad is reported internationally (From Gazette Series)

Yate couple's discovery of a dead bird in a Tesco bag of salad sparks debate on TV and across the globe

12:54pm Friday 1st March 2013 in News By Alexandra Womack

THE Gazette’s exclusive story about a Yate couple who discovered a dead bird in their Tesco bag of salad has hit headlines across the country.

James and Jasmine Watson’s grisly discovery, in a bag of the retailer’s own brand babyleaf and rocket salad, was featured in almost every national paper as well as websites across the globe including in Australia.

The find was also discussed on ITV’s This Morning and Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff on Friday. This Morning presenter Eamon Holmes was shocked at our pictures of the Blackcap European warbler, identified by Tesco, which sales director Mr Watson, 32, had served up on his dinner plate.

He and his wife, of Brimsham Park, had been looking forward to a dinner of steak and scallops with the salad after cooking in dimmed light. But their romantic meal was ruined when, after taking three mouthfuls of food, Mr Watson discovered the whole dead bird on his plate.

“My first reaction was why have I got a soggy fishcake on my plate?,” he said. “But this was a full size dead bird.

“We could not believe it. We literally stood there in utter amazement for at least two minutes.”

The couple, who bought the salad as part of a weekly order fromtesco.com, were later offered a £200 gift card from the company, the UK’s largest retailer. But they have declined the offer and have so far not been contacted by the company again.

Speaking to the Gazette, Mr Watson said he still wanted an explanation from Tesco as to how the bird made its way into a small bag of salad and went undetected through numerous checks and procedures.

“It is not about money and I am not trying to get thousands of pounds out of Tesco,” he said. “I would just like to know how it happened.”

Mr Watson has asked a Tesco boss to discuss the matter with him. The company has apologised for the horror find but declined to take any further action.

A spokesman said: “We were concerned to learn of this issue an have investigated thoroughly with our supplier. Both we and our suppliers have robust measures in place to prevent incidents such as this, and our salad leaves go through complex filtering and washing systems.”

The incident in Yate was not the first time a bird has been found in a Tesco bag of salad. In November 2011, a family from Weare in Somerset found a similar bird in exactly the same brand of salad.