Warning after red fungus found in supermarket banana sends eight-year-old to hospital

Lissa Melin bought bananas at Morrisons at the end of last week. When her eight-year-old daughter bit into one on Monday she found a red streak inside - later identified as the naturally occurring fungus Nigrospora - which left her feeling sick.

Following a call to the ‘111’ NHS non-emergency advice line, Lissa took her daughter to A&E and she has since been discharged.

The fungus cannot cause any substantial illness but it can cause ill-feeling, which may be psychosomatic.

Lissa said: “Another friend said she also found one of these not long ago from Morrisons.

“Maybe Morrisons need to do some more vigorous checking so children - or anyone for this matter - doesn’t eat one again.”

However, as the fungus is found within the centre of the banana, it is not possible for affected bananas to be identified prior to peeling.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We are sorry for Mrs Melin’s daughter’s distress.

“This product did not meet our strict quality standards.

“However, we would like to assure her that it is a naturally occurring mould which is not harmful to humans.”