When 63-year-old Neville Linton from Birmingham, UK, opened a bag of broccoli he’d bought from Aldi, he expected a simple
meal—not a fright. Three days after purchase, he unwrapped the plastic and froze in shock: a live snake was coiled inside the broccoli stems.
“I’m not good with snakes,” Linton said. “It was pretty frightening. It’s lucky I didn’t just leave the broccoli
out in the kitchen—it could’ve been loose in the house.”
Terrified, Linton’s sister, Ann-Marie Tenkanemin, helped him trap the reptile in a tub and return it to the store.
The Aldi manager was just as alarmed when the creature began to move. Later, Linton and his son Donovan brought
the snake to Dudley Zoo, where it was identified as a young ladder snake—non-venomous but capable of a painful bite.
Still, herpetologist Dr. Steven Allain later suggested it was more likely a viperine water snake, a harmless Mediterranean
species that probably hitched a ride during broccoli harvesting. “It was likely scooped up by agricultural equipment,” he explained.
While Aldi apologized and launched an investigation, Linton expressed concern for his vulnerable family members, including
his disabled son and elderly mother-in-law. The snake now lives safely at the zoo—a reminder of how far
a bit of Mediterranean wildlife can travel, even hidden inside a simple bag of groceries.