“Great for spicing up any dish,” says the packet.

And it’s not wrong, if by “spicing up” you mean enhancing your dish with the surprise addition of a moth.

The problem was Adam Winch wasn’t, on this occasion, preparing Moth Surprise for his family when he picked up a bag of chillies at Tesco, in Courteney Road, Gillingham, on Sunday, April 6.

“I needed some chillies,” said the 33-year-old dad of three from Hawbeck Road, Rainham, whose wife Kerry was planning a Thai green curry for their 13th wedding anniversary.

“I picked up the pack and just as I picked it up I saw this moth.

“It made me jump,” he added. “It was still flapping about.”

Mr Winch is clear that what he found in the bag was a live moth and is asking for an apology from the store.

“I spoke to a member of staff and they just said ‘do you want another pack?’”

“It was like it was a normal occurrence.

“The woman pulled a little bit of an upside-down mouth at first but that was about it.

“The whole batch could have been contaminated but they didn’t take them all away.”

The moth – possibly a stowaway from Kenya, where the chillies are from – was set free by

Mr Winch in the shop.

“The moth was a 100 per cent alive,” insisted Mr Winch. “It is probably still flying around the shop.”

His YouTube video of the incident shows the moth being placed onto a shelf.

However, viewers will have to decide for themselves if the creature looks alive or not.

As for the Thai green curry, Mr Winch added: “We left the chillies out in the end.”

A spokesman for Tesco said: "We set ourselves the highest standards for the safety and quality of our food and were very concerned to learn about this issue. We are investigating with the supplier how this might have happened, and have spoken to Mr Winch to reassure him we will keep him updated with the results.”