SOUTH PARIS, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A woman from South Paris claims a bucket of chicken that she purchased at her local Walmart contained maggots, a fact she says she did not discover until after she and her daughter had eaten some of the chicken.
"We got the pick three bucket from Walmart," explained Denna Tracy. "I picked out the General Tao's, the wing dings and the popcorn chicken for my kids, we do that all the time, it kind of keeps them quiet."
Tracy says she placed the bucket in between her daughter and herself in the car and they proceeded to snack on the chicken while they ran other errands. She says they stopped at a park on the way home and estimates the chicken had been purchased no more than two hours before she sat down at home to have dinner.
"I went to go put my fork in it, and of course this time I am looking down in the bucket, and I see this piece in there that has these white clusters of something," said Tracy. "I was looking at it and I was like, what is that? And that is when I kind of seen it crawling and I just lost it. I was wicked just grossed right out."
Tracy grabbed her phone and shot video of the chicken and posted it on her Facebook page to warn her family and friends. In less than 24 hours, the video was shared thousands of times.
"I'm ok. I haven't eaten anything since the incident. I can't," she said. "I just can't bring myself to eat and I had a hard time sleeping last night. I think it is just because of the whole situation. I'm just that grossed out about it."
The Maine Department of Agriculture says they received a formal complaint about the incident and assigned a consumer protection inspector to investigate the allegations.
A spokesperson for Walmart says the company is looking in to the claim as well and takes food safety seriously. They said a 3rd party pest management company and the Department of Agriculture visited the store on Wednesday and found no cause for concern at the Oxford Walmart.
Denna Tracy says she contacted the store manager to complain, and was offered a refund of her purchase price of $12.
"I'm like really? I'm not talking about returning a shirt," exclaimed Tracy. "I'm not talking like I am unhappy because a pair of pants didn't fit. I'm talking about I have maggots in my food."
Tracy says she is not sure how she will proceed, but hopes the store - where she is a loyal customer - cleans up its act.
"I want people to see this because I want them to be informed. I would like Walmart to maybe be a little more thorough and make sure that this doesn't happen to somebody else."
"I just hope that they are looking into it and they are going to take care of it," she said, adding "and if they do find something bad is going on, it is resolved."
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