She said Grab refunded her, though she is dissatisfied with the restaurant’s alleged lack of response.
A customer allegedly found a live worm in a takeout salad from Shakey’s Pizza, prompting questions about food safety and how the restaurant handled her complaint.
Threads user Jowee Ann Jocson said she spotted the supposed worm in a salad ordered for takeout from the restaurant’s Abad Santos branch in Tondo, Manila.
“We ordered the other night from Shakey’s thru Grab. Nakalahati na namin yung salad when my hubby saw this,” she wrote in an Oct. 24 post, where she also shared photos of the worm and a video of it wriggling.
Jocson said she reported the order to Grab and received a refund for the salad. However, she criticized Shakey’s for allegedly failing to adequately address her concern.
“‘Yun na ‘yon? I just feel like that’s not enough. Imagine the disgust and trauma we felt lalo na mahilig kami mag order ng salad and now ‘yan lagi namin maaalala,” she wrote.
The post drew comments from netizens expressing food safety concerns.
Some speculated that the worm could be a juvenile cutworm or armyworm, which are pests that can affect crops. However, its species has not been independently confirmed.
The photos and video shared by Jocson do not also establish how the worm entered the salad or whether pesticides were used on the vegetables.
Food safety laws require establishments to implement pest-control measures and provide for local health authorities to intervene under specified circumstances.
Under the Sanitation Code of the Philippines, food establishments must source their meat and produce from suppliers “under sanitary or veterinary supervision.” It also requires food businesses to maintain their own vermin abatement programs.
Section 20(c) provides for local health agencies to carry out pest-control work at an establishment’s expense if its owners or operators “fail, neglect or refuse to maintain” the required program.
The Food Safety Act of 2013, or Republic Act No. 10611, also outlines food businesses’ responsibilities when a product may pose a safety risk. Section 14(b) requires a food business operator that considers its product noncompliant with food safety requirements to “immediately initiate procedures to withdraw the food in question from the market and inform the regulatory authority.”
Under Section 14(c), operators must also allow inspections and cooperate with regulatory authorities on measures to address risks posed by food products they have supplied. Section 29 provides for regulatory agencies to conduct regular inspections of food business operators.
radar reached out to Shakey’s for comment but has yet to receive a response.
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