Disgusted teen opens can of John West tuna to find it riddled with MAGGOTS

SICKENING images show the moment a young teen opened up a can of John West tuna - to find dozens of MAGGOTS wriggling inside.

Horrified Lauren Morris, 14, opened up the can of fish to make some dinner - but was left retching when hit by "the smell of rotting flesh".

The youngster shouted at dad Mark after making the gruesome discovery and ran out the family's back door to be sick.

Mark, 42, told The Sun Online: "She was so close to being sick.

"You can just imagine the smell - it was like rotting flesh, they were right in there wriggling around.

"They were even trying to wriggle out of the tin when we opened it. It was gross."

Stunned Mark, from Wolverhampton, quickly checked the sell-by date on the can, but found the tuna was supposedly still "fresh" until 2018.

Luckily Mark used to spend time fishing - and so was able to take control of the situation while his wife Danyelle, 42, and daughter reeled from the horror find.

The dad was quick to check whether the remaining can of the pack-of-three was infested.

He said: "The last one was fine, it must have just been the middle can that got contaminated.

"It did make me a bit worried though as we had already eaten one of the cans."

Mark said tuna is a "big part" of NHS worker Danyelle's and Lauren's diets - as they are both "health freaks".

But the disgusted dad said he doesn't think any of the family will ever eat tuna again.

He said: "I can't see it happening, it's definitely put us off."

The blind manufacturer sent a complaint in to John West after the grotesque discovery and is waiting for the company to collect the can for testing.

He said: "To be fair, they've been quite good. It took a while to get to the right department with emails, but they've been very apologetic and not nasty at all.

"It is quite embarrassing for a company as big as John West though."

John West insist the maggots could not have got into the can during production - and suggest it must have happened after leaving their factory.

Mark says he "can not be sure" where he bought the cans.

A spokesperson for John West said: "John West is committed to the highest quality controls and standards, and we believe that it would not be possible for such a contamination to have occurred during the course of production.

"All of our tuna is filleted by hand and is immediately packed into cans to prevent any contamination of product. It is then heat treated between 118 to 121 degree Celsius to ensure there is no contamination in the final product as all microorganisms are destroyed at that temperature.

"Any contamination to our canned products would have occurred post-production; either during transport, storage, distribution or shelving.

"Our retail partners actively train their stockists to identify and remove damaged products from their shelves."

They added: "We are happy to work with any consumer who experiences such an issue, to investigate the origins of such contaminations and ensure that the right organisation within the post-production process is notified of this issue and can prevent any such future occurrences."

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