Budget airline passenger finds beetle larvae in her meal

Australia’s budget airline, Jetstar has withdrawn a Malay-style dish from its in-flight menu after a passenger discovered what is thought to be beetle larvae in her in-flight meal. 28-year old Serena Chen made the unsavoury discovery on a recent Jetstar flight from Singapore to Perth, while tucking into her seafood nasi lemak.



Ms Chen thought she had found a live maggot in her meal and notified cabin crew, who replaced it. But an insect expert who has since examined the photo evidence has identified it as beetle larvae.

The horrified passenger, who asked Jetstar for a refund for the meal, claims the airline initially told her to apply for a refund online and that she was only given her money back when she took her complaint to the airline’s headquarters.



Jetstar has apologised and is investigating. A spokesperson said: “It’s an isolated case and it’s highly unlikely it’s a maggot. Its more likely to be a rice worm. We are now working with suppliers to replace any rice batches and look through the production process to ensure this doesn’t happen again. The dish won’t be returned until they have gone through all that safety insurance work.”