The World's Deadliest Spider Found In A Tulsa Whole Foods Store.

TULSA, OK -- The world's deadliest spider found in a Tulsa grocery store. An employee at Whole Foods Market at 1401 East 41st Street found a Brazilian Wandering Spider wandering around in their produce section.

The store handed the spider over to biologists at the University of Tulsa who say that employee is lucky to be alive.

Terry Childs is the director of TU's Animal Facilities and a self-proclaimed spider lover. He has a scary-looking but harmless friend Cuddles the tarantula. He is harmless, unless you're an insect.

"The venom starts to break the prey down on the inside and then she slurps it out kind of like a smoothie," said Terry Childs.

Childs' department is now home to a Brazilian Wandering Spider. It's being kept in a terrarium with a do not disturb sign. More people die from the spider's bite than any other spider in the world.

"Within minutes you will have breathing problems, you'll start to lose control of your muscles, you'll start to drool and within 20 to 25 minutes you'll probably collapse on the floor and die of asphyxiation," said Terry Childs.

And, that's why he says people at Tulsa's Whole Foods market are lucky to be alive.

On Sunday an employee found the spider wandering across the bananas in the produce section.

"She managed to capture it in one of these containers until I got there," said Terry Childs.

Apparently the spider, also known as a banana spider, hitched a ride on some bunches of bananas all the way from Honduras. It turns out it is the kind of thing that happens all the time, but this particular spider is more threatening than most.

"This particular one happens to be one of the most aggressive ones I've actually come across. This thing will actually jump at you," said Terry Childs.

A manager at Whole Foods wouldn't talk on camera but said they check their produce for spider and insects. In fact, he said, that's how the world's deadliest spider was found in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"There is an antidote for the bite of this spider. Unfortunately I don't think we have any around here," said Terry Childs with the University of Tulsa.

The spider will not stay at TU for long. It will likely be taken to another university for research.
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Woman Contaminated Dairy Queen Malts With Ajax.

FERNDALE, Wash. -- An employee of a Ferndale Dairy Queen says she “accidentally” poured Ajax into the malt dispenser, sickening two customers, according to court documents.

Alexandra Margot Georgia Dale, 44, has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault in connection with the poisoned malts.

Two men reported burning sensations in their mouth and on their tongue after consuming the malt beverages from a Dairy Queen located in the 5600 block of Riverside Drive on Feb. 25,2009.

One victim said that he tasted something funny when he took the first bite of his chocolate malt. When he took a second bite, he said he felt a burning sensation in his mouth.

He alerted the Dairy Queen Manager and by the time he got home, he had three red chemical burns on his tongue. They went away a couple days later.

A second man had worse injuries. He had to stay in the hospital for two days with medical issues including ulcers located in his esophagus, detectives with the Ferndale Police Department said.

According to probable cause documents, when the Health Department tested the victim’s malt, they found it was contaminated with Dairy Queen’s fat fryer cleaner, Ajax.

Detectives obtained surveillance video and saw the employee, Dale, pouring the Ajax into the malt dispenser, documents said.

She was later arrested on March 6.

When she was questioned by the detectives, Dale gave several different stories.

Documents stated Dale first said she followed the proper procedure to fill the malt dispenser. When she was told there was surveillance video, Dale then said she had never filled the dispenser before Feb. 19, when she contaminated the malts.

Dale went on to tell detectives that she has been a manager at another Dairy Queen and knows how to use the malt dispenser, detective said.

Eventually Dale said she “accidentally poured the chemical into the malt dispenser,” according to documents.

Detectives said in their opinion, the malt mix and the Ajax container “could not be confused.”

Dale’s motive is still unknown

There's A Rat In County Government....And A Few Roaches Also.

COUNTY, Ga. - The Health Department has shutdown a popular eatery inside the Fulton County government headquarters.

Fulton health officials said an inspection of Chamber's Café conducted Monday revealed violations of the county food code.

Inspectors said they found rats, roaches and other problems inside.

The café has until March 12 to fix the violations, said health officials.

Until that time, health officials said they will conduct daily inspections to ensure compliance with food codes.

Allen's Green Beans Are A Big Hit With Rats

Last year a Beaumont catering company found a rat head in a can of Allen's green beans. The same thing happened to a Utah woman and now it may have happened again. A New Braunfels (Texas) woman says she found the body of a rat in a can of Allen's Green Beans she was preparing for the Super Bowl. The Beaumont catering company wants to rally support to either boycott Allen's or file a class action lawsuit to get the plant cleaned up.

The woman from New Braunfels remembered a similar story from Beaumont. She decided to call the Beaumont business and her local news. The New Braunfels Wal-Mart agreed to take Allen's Green Beans off the shelves. The same thing that happened in Beaumont less than a year ago.



However, other stores across the country carry Allen's but Pamela Byrd doesn't think anything changed after she reported the rat head. So now three different people from three different places have something in common.


"Go to the plant. Inspect the plant. Find out what's going on. Obviously something is going on. This lady is from New Braunfels. Ms. Watson is from Utah. We're in Beaumont. Ok? Something is going on," said Pamela Byrd.

And all they want is something done about it.

Worker: I Saw A Rat Roasted In Peanuts

A former employee of the Georgia peanut plant at the center of a criminal investigation in a nationwide salmonella outbreak says he saw a rat dry-roasting in a peanut area.

Jonathan Prather was one of 50 people who lost their jobs last month when the Peanut Corporation of America shut down its plant in Blakely.
The outbreak is blamed in as many as eight deaths and has sickened some 500 people, authorities say. Many products made with peanut paste from the plant have been recalled.

In addition, a peanut processing plant in Texas run by the Virginia company blamed for the outbreak operated for years un-inspected and unlicensed by government health officials, The Associated Press has learned.

Prather describes a building in which roaches were a constant problem, saying, "Roaches get up there in the dry roast. Some of them blend in with the peanuts. You'd never know they're there."

Health inspectors also noticed roaches as they searched for the source of the salmonella, saying, "A live roach and several dead roaches were observed in the firm's wash room."

But, three or four months ago, Prather says, he saw the rat "dry roasting in the peanuts."

He says he also frequently saw rat droppings in the area where peanut products were made, where Prather worked.

Health inspectors say they found "gaping" holes in walls, but didn't report evidence of rodents or droppings. They did find holes elsewhere, saying, "There were open gaps observed as large as ... two-and-a-half feet at the air conditioner intakes located in the roof of the firm."

Prather says there were "plenty of holes in the roof, throughout the roof. And when it rained, water just came through the whole plant."

Mold was also spotted by investigators, as were mops washed in the same sink as peanut product production equipment, Glor points out.
"Any of these alleged violations," Glor says, "could be the source of salmonella, which the company's own documents say was discovered at least a dozen times. Peanut Corporation of America is accused of retesting the samples, "lab shopping," until it got favorable results."

Prather says it saddens him that many people have been impacted by the salmonella, adding he's speaking out now.