A Hawke's Bay woman has shared her disgust after discovering insect larvae in her Whittaker's chocolate block.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, contacted Newshub with photos of the Hazella block she said was purchased from a Hastings dairy earlier this week.
"I felt grossed out," she said. "My stomach flips thinking that I may have eaten one or more of the bugs.
"Unfortunately for me, I am afraid and repulsed by almost all insects."
This isn't the first abnormal discovery reported by Whittaker's chocolate consumers in recent weeks. Last month, an Auckland mum also found insect larvae in her Whittaker's chocolate bar, while some flatmates in Wellington found what appeared to be cobwebs in their Berry and Biscuit block.
Despite her disgust, the woman at the centre of the latest find noted "context matters", adding Hawke's Bay, after Cyclone Gabrielle, was "going through a lot, so can't cry over spoiled chocolate".
Whittaker's promptly responded to Newshub's requests for comment, saying in a written statement: "We're sorry to hear that this situation has occurred and that a Whittaker's chocolate lover has experienced the disappointment of not being able to consume the bar they purchased. Unfortunately, despite all the rigorous quality control processes we have in place, there are things outside of our control that can result in a situation like this.
"We have a comprehensive pest control programme in place at our factory, which is run by an accredited pest control company and our operations are fully compliant with all food safety requirements.
"However, there are other ways product quality can be affected, for example from damage in transit or storage conditions in warehouses.
"We are in contact with the consumer to get further information from her so that we can investigate this specific situation but we remain confident in the robustness of the quality control processes we have in place. We recently sent out some guidelines to retailers to remind them about safe storage conditions for chocolate."
