World's Deadliest Spider Found in Whole Foods Produce

Fox News ^ | 3/21/2009 | Fox News

[Dallas59]

TULSA, Okla. — One of the most deadly spiders in the world has been found in the produce section of a Tulsa grocery store. An employee of Whole Foods Market found the Brazilian Wandering Spider Sunday in bananas from Honduras and managed to catch it in a container.

The spider was given to University of Tulsa Animal Facilities director Terry Childs who said this type of spider kills more people than any other.

[worst-case scenario]

There must be a happy medium between blithely ignoring the chance that there might be insects in the produce, as you describe, and freaking out that every spider on a bunch of bananas will be going to petrify you with one nip.

Calm, well-reasoned moderation - not very fashionable these days.

[sport]

I been killing them outside for years.

I live in Plant City, Florida and I used to find them in my shed.

If I get a chance, I can tell you what every spider I see is. A dead one.

[mysterio]

Seriously. I eat bananas for breakfast every day and now I’m a little concerned.

Snake Bite : 1 in 1,874,034
Spider Bite :1 in 468,508
Lighting Strike : 1 in 79,746
Being Executed : 1 in 62,468
Trip over and die: 1 in 6,278
Freeze to death : 1 in 6,045
Plane crash : 1 in 5,051
Car crash: 1 in 237
Accidental Poisoning : 1 in 193
Suicide : 1 in 119
Cancer : 1 in 7
Heart : 1 in 5

I checked multiple sites, and your odds of dying from a spider bite range from 1:400,000 to 1:600,000.

Perhaps someone with actuarial tables can give you a more specific number than I can.

[amyjane]

Thanks, I feel better now.

[mysterio]

I eat a ton of bananas as well. The spider thing crossed my mind until I looked up the stats and figured out it’s more dangerous to drive. Now I just worry when I start the car, lol.

[amyjane]

LOL, we could go crazy thinking of all the lurking dangers. It does make sense to be wise and check produce though.

Went to Whole Foods yesterday and someone there said it turned out the spider found is not poisonous. She said read to the end of the article, where it says they got back to Whole Foods and said it was a non-toxic spider.

However, I do not see that at the end of the article.

[stbdside]

Australia is also home to the only venomous mammal, the platypus.

[steve86]

I checked multiple sites, and your odds of dying from a spider bite range from 1:400,000 to 1:600,000.

Sure, across all people and all spiders. Narrow it down to one particularly deadly spider species and one very unlucky person and the odds will approach certainty.