A shopper was left "absolutely sick to the stomach" after spotting what appeared to be the foetus of a dead baby rat in her supermarket lettuce. Georgia Rizzi, 34, was about to make a sandwich with the Romaine lettuce she'd bought from her local Tesco Extra to serve to a friend and her 18-month-old child when she was hit by an "overwhelming" smell. After breaking off the top of the leafy green vegetable to feed to her rabbit, the beauty therapist from Chichester spotted something "red and squishy" wedged between its layers.

"When I shook it into the sink, to my absolute horror, a dead baby rat fell out," she said. "I felt absolutely sick to my stomach. The thought that I not only nearly ate it myself, but nearly served it to my friend and her young child was horrifying. "As silly as it may sound, I just wanted to burst into tears."

Georgia captured the stomach-churning moment the foetus fell into her kitchen sink on camera, and warned other shoppers to be cautious about washing fruit and vegetables - especially when shipped from places like Spain, where the lettuce was from.

The 34-year-old said she had returned the contaminated product to her local Tesco Extra and was given a refund, but was still waiting for an apology from the chain after the "distressing" incident.

"I wouldn't want this, or wose, to happen to somebody else," she said. At the very least, I would like an apology from Tesco, assurances as to what they are doing about it, and, to be honest, I want to be compensated for the distress that is has caused.

"Always check your products - it's so important to wash fresh fruit and veg!"

While the exact nature of the contamination has yet to be confirmed, Tesco said an investigation was underway.

"We are sorry to hear about this," a spokesperson said. "We work closely with our suppliers to ensure there are robust quality procedures in place, and our lettuce is thoroughly checked throughout the growing, harvesting and packing process.

"We have spoken with the customer, provided a refund and our technical team is fully investigating the potential cause."