Blackpool woman finds live worms crawling out of Morrisons fish while cooking curry

Laura Taynton from South Shore was minutes away from serving up her homemade monkfish curry to friends when she spotted something wriggling around the pan.

Taking a closer look, she discovered four worms – each around 1.5 inches long – crawling out of the monkfish tails she had bought from Morrisons in Squires Gate Lane.

“I felt sick to my stomach. The whole thing had to go in the bin,” said Laura, who spent £44 on ingredients for a dinner party with friends – including £18 for the two fish tails.

“Honestly, it was absolutely disgusting. There were four of them. None of us could eat after seeing that. It was vile.

“I went to Morrisons and spoke to the fishmonger about buying everything I needed for making a good fish curry.

"We went through my basket and he gave me tips on what I needed to make a delicious curry from scratch.

"He recommended the monkfish tails, which cost £9.20 each.

"It was only after I made the sauce, cubed the fish and began stirring it all together that I noticed something moving in the pan.

"I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There were four worms. All alive.

"I was making the meal for friends and I was so embarrassed when I had to explain to them what had happened.

"As you can imagine, we lost our appetite and the whole meal went in the bin.”

Morrisons told Laura they had raised her complaint with the serious incidents team who confirmed they were cod worms from inside the flesh of the fish.

A customer service advisor sought to reassure Laura that the worms are not harmful to humans and are killed when the fish is cooked.

“Our fish are checked as part of processing but the worms can be missed,” she told Laura.

The incident has since been reported to Morrisons’ serious food safety department for further investigation, while the company has offered Laura £20 credit on her Morrisons loyalty card.

“Me and my family will not be shopping there again and the £20 voucher will go on petrol,” said Laura.

Morrisons were approached for comment.

What are cod worms and can they make you sick?

Cod worms belong to the anisakis family of worms.

They infect some saltwater fish, especially cod, monkfish, mackerel, haddock, herring and salmon.

If fish is refrigerated whole before cleaning it, the worms will have a chance to bore into the flesh of the fish.

What if you eat live cod worms?

Most of the time, the worm will simply crawl up the esophagus (food tube leading to the stomach), where it is coughed out.

Sometimes a worm will burrow into the stomach, causing pain, nausea and vomiting, usually within 12 hours of ingestion. In others, it can burrow into the small intestine.

There, it produces symptoms resembling appendicitis, usually within a week of eating infected fish. The severe abdominal pain generally leads to endoscopy or surgery to remove the worm.