Sydney woman Zoe Perry discovered a large and very much alive spider in her Woolworths-brand Italian Style Salad mix.

Ms Perry posted video footage of the spider in its bed of lettuce to the supermarket chain's Facebook page accompanied by this rather restrained post: 

Hi Woolworths,

Shopping as per usual for Italian Style Salad Mix....get it home....Mum goes to open the packet and we are greeted by....

Is this what's actually behind the "salmonella" callbacks?

Kind Regards,

An arachnophobic family

Woolworths was swift to respond. 

"We're very concerned about this Zoe, and take incidents like this very seriously. Please let us know your phone number and state...so that we can follow this up with you ASAP. Thanks."

The video of the spider, which appears to be a huntsman, has notched up more than 3.5 million views, and has been shared on Facebook more than 50,000 times.

A Woolworths spokesman said in a statement that a food quality expert had been sent to the processing facility to see what additional measures could be put in place to prevent any more spiders from getting into any more salads.

"We require our suppliers to follow clear quality control guidelines during food processing," the spokesman said.

"Prepackaged lettuce goes through an extensive process before being packaged. Our suppliers wash, blow dry, shake and visually inspect the lettuce." 

It has been a tough two days for lettuce and salad in Australia.

Coles and Woolworths issued a national recall of pre-packaged lettuce and salad on Thursday evening, with use-by dates leading up to and including February 14.

The salad and lettuce have been linked to a salmonella outbreak that has left two people in hospital and is suspected of infecting 54.

All states and territories are affected, except Tasmania and Western Australia.

Lite n' Easy, which uses the same lettuce supplier, Victorian company Tripod Farmers, has also warned its customers not to eat the salad component of meals delivered this week.

Fairfax Media