When a Cape Town shopper shared a video on social media of what appeared to be a field mouse making itself cosy in a pack of free-range chicken, it immediately went viral.
During a visit to the Woolies branch in Gardens Shopping Centre, TikToker TeboShale, made a recording of the rodent in the frozen food section. For a touch of comic relief, she added the theme song from animated movie “Ratatouille”.
Her comments section was soon flooded with an array of colourful replies.
“Girl, I couldn’t even pick it up with that mouse inside,” said an online user.
“It took me a while to register, I thought I was supposed to be looking at the price,” admitted another.
@tebo.s Guyssssss🤮![CDATA[]]>🤮![CDATA[]]>🤮 mara why ??🤮![CDATA[]]>🤮![CDATA[]]>🤮#woolworthssa #fypシ #fyp #capetown ♬ Le Festin (From "Ratatouille") - Movie Sounds Unlimited
But mostly, people were shocked and disgusted.
After the post was seen on Twitter, Woolworths responded:
“We have launched an in-depth investigation into the incident; senior management have visited the site to assess the situation and an independent auditor will verify our findings. In the immediate term, the store is undergoing a forensic deep clean.
Woolies is deeply committed to the highest standards of hygiene and food safety. Each store undergoes routine inspections and audits on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis covering aspects relating to food safety, our cold chain, cleaning, pest control and due diligence. (3)
— Woolworths SA (@WOOLWORTHS_SA) April 29, 2023
“Our values underpin our commitment to the well-being of our customers and people. Your trust in Woolies is supremely important and we are taking every measure to ensure this never happens again.”
You’d think after the apology, things would settle down. Soon afterwards, TeboShale took to TikTok to give her followers an update.
As many had asked why she took the video, she said: “I took the video because I thought no one would believe me. It’s Woolworths.”
@tebo.s Jho guys! A lot has happened since that post so heres an update ! #capetown #woolworthssa #fypシ #fyp ♬ original sound - TeboShale
She explained that Woolies did call her and said “based on the fact that they use eco-labs, this is so shocking. And I said it’s shocking to me too.”
But it gets worse, TeboShale said. “When the employee went to throw out the chicken, the rat or mouse, whatever you want to call it, ran out again – and then it ran to all the other chicken.”