Amber Wuensche says she may never be able to eat another pre-packaged salad again after finding a large, black beetle scurrying inside.  

Wuensche buys the same salad about three times a week from a Burnaby PriceSmart foods, but during a recent lunch-hour meal she received a nasty surprise.

After plucking the bug out of her salad she discovered it was still very much alive.

Wuensche took a picture of the bug and then returned to the PriceSmart foods to inform the manager, who offered her a refund and a $10 gift certificate.

Wuensche says she didn’t want any money, but she did want an apology from the company, as well as an explanation as to how the critter ended up in her meal.

“I just want them to figure out how the bug got there, where the bug came from and how to make sure no one else ends up biting into an unwanted piece of protein," said Wuensche.

Overwaitea, the parent company of PriceSmart foods, said it was a garden-variety ground beetle and it does apologize for what happened. In an email to CTV News, it said, “we take matters like this very seriously and as soon as we heard, launched an investigation with our food safety scientists taking the lead. We've been in touch with the customer and are actively working to gather details and take whatever steps necessary to continue to ensure the quality and safety of the food we sell every day.”

Overwaitea says in-store salads are made from triple-washed organic lettuce that has no pesticides. And while it's rare, sometimes a bug will find its way into the lettuce.