The mishap should not happen in France, but keep an eye out all the same.
Canadian Benoît Sanscartier had a big scare after being stung by a scorpion this Sunday March 24 at his home in Laval, a suburb of Montreal.
The arachnid had hidden in a bunch of bananas that the man had just bought at the supermarket in the neighboring town of Boisbriand, he told the TVA Nouvelles channel.
“I removed the paper around the bananas and I got stung by the scorpion,” a
Centruroides gracilis
, he testified.
A phenomenon which is nevertheless not so surprising, according to a specialist interviewed by the Quebec channel.
“It’s the first time they’ve seen that for a client”
Indeed, this specimen, nicknamed the “Banana scorpion”, is imported “from the southern United States or Central America” and is found “frequently on bananas or grapes”, explained Étienne Normandin, entomologist at the 'Montreal university.
“In these countries,
(the fruits)
are placed in carts or in large warehouses.
(Scorpions)
can intrude and be transported here,” he further clarified.
Benoit Sanscartier was taken care of by the emergency services after his sting and subsequently contacted the supermarket where he had made the purchases for explanations.
“They told me they only had a protocol for employees.
“It’s the first time they’ve seen this for a customer,” the unhappy buyer reported.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency must launch an investigation to understand how the scorpion was able to escape the vigilance of those responsible for managing the goods.
Don't panic, however, the next time you buy your bananas at the supermarket: this scorpion comes from the United States and Central America, it is unlikely that you will come across it on bananas sold in France, since the vast majority of them are French and produced in Martinique and Guadeloupe.