Paul Evans, who served in the RAF for 10 years as a flight sergeant, was looking forward to making a tuna mayo sandwich when he spotted the stomach-churning creature.
He said: “I bought the tin as part of a three-pack from Poundstretcher in Bedford. I opened a new tin, branded Amore, drained the contents and saw it looking at me.
“I’ve seen some pretty horrible things in my time in the forces but you come to expect what to encounter. You don’t expect to find it in your kitchen.”
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Paul contacted Poundstretcher’s head office at the weekend to alert them to his gruesome discovery only to be told it was a “normal” find.
Its customer services team emailed him details of sweetcorn farming practices and production, saying the caterpillar is “almost certainly a larva (grub) of the common corn moth, which is unique to sweet corn and maize” and are usually removed by hand, or machine during the canning process.
They added: “Please accept our sincere apologies for any distress or inconvenience that this incident may have caused and we do hope that it will not deter you from buying tinned sweet corn in the future. Please return the can to your nearest store where you will receive a full refund or exchange.”
But Paul, who has vowed never to shop in Poundstretcher again, said he will stick to the better-known brands of sweetcorn in future.