I bought a box of cat food from Asda and couldn’t believe what I found inside – it made my skin crawl

A PET lover couldn't believe her eyes when she opened a box of cat food she'd bought at Asda to find it was infested with hundreds of flies and maggots.

Leeanne Whittaker said the horrifying sight within the box of Purina Felix sachets made her skin crawl.

She said not only was the sight "stomach-churning", but the smell was too.

Leeanne had bought the 40 pouches of feline food from an Asda in Lancashire through click and collect.

The pet lover said she would usually check over what she's buying, but didn't get the chance this time.

When she arrived home she made the disgusting discovery.

Leeanne told : "The box looked fine when we loaded the car up as we got the shopping through click and collect.

"I opened it when we got home and the inside of the lid was covered in maggots, eggs and flies.

"The packets were stuck together and the smell was stomach churning."

Leeanne said she phoned the supermarket immediately to see what could be done about the gross find.

She said: "I rang customer service, they were no help and wouldn't give me a refund."

However, when Leeanne took the box back to Asda, staff replaced the box.

A spokesman for Nestle, the parent company of cat food manufacturer Purina, said: “We were very sorry to hear about a consumer’s experience with a recent Felix purchase.

"We try really hard to make sure that the products that our feline friends love always reach them in perfect condition.

"Stringent safety and quality procedures during manufacturing and the packing of our pet food, as well as the many, many checks that take place throughout the entire production process, are all in place so that our products are perfect when they leave our factories.

"Sometimes, unfortunately, the food inside our heat-sealed pouches can be exposed to air from tiny holes in the seal, which is most likely how this kind of spoilage occurred.

"Occasionally this might happen if a seal isn’t made completely air-tight during packing, although this will normally be detected before any pouches reach pet owners.

"Pouches are also transported and stored in a number of different areas through our partners within the supply chain, before they reach the shelf in stores – this means we can’t always be certain how and where the integrity of the seal may have been compromised.

"We have contacted the consumer and will work with her to look into this individual case more closely, as well as offering to replace the spoiled product.”

Leeanne's stomach-churning discovery comes just weeks after an NHS worker found what he thought was fly eggs in his KFC burger.

A mum also spoke out in recent months about her seven-year-old daughter vomiting after eating a Dairylea Lunchable full of maggots.