A mother-of-one opened a sealed packed of Tesco potatoes only to find a dirty blue surgical glove nestled among the spuds.

Biba Kutisova, 36, from Salisbury, set about immediately washing the potatoes to avoid any possible contamination from coronavirus.

The glove was covered in mud and was presumably worn by one of the workers harvesting or processing the root vegetable.

Ms Kutisova's ex-partner had bought the potatoes from a Tesco Express store near her home and she originally thought the glimmer of blue was paper.

She said: 'I spotted something blue and thought it was paper or something, but then I saw it was a proper glove.

'I was shocked, how can that happen? How can nobody notice?

'I threw it away immediately, washed my hands and washed everything because you never know with what's going on.'

To protect her five-year-old son Ms Kutisova has been relying on her ex-partner to deliver their food during the pandemic. 

A Tesco spokesperson today said: 'We are sorry to hear about this. We have extremely high standards for the food we put on our shelves, and our suppliers take great care and attention to ensure our vegetables are thoroughly cleaned and sorted before they are packaged.

'We have investigated this with our supplier and they are putting in place additional checks to stop this from happening again.' 

It comes after a virologist confirmed 'every surface is a hazard' when it comes to COVID-19 and supermarket customers should be particularly mindful of the loose fruit and vegetables in the store.

Associate professor at the University of Sydney, Timothy Newsome, specialises in infection, vaccines and virology.

He said that while the virus can live on most surfaces, patrons doing their weekly grocery shop should be particularly wary of the fruit and veg aisle as customers are constantly picking up and placing back down items.

'We have to remember that every surface is potentially contaminated. And like with any surface there is a risk,' Mr Newsome explained.

'We don't see it as high risk because that comes from sustained contact with other people, but nonetheless it's important to be mindful.'

While it would be 'poor practice' to be testing 'every avocado for coronavirus', Mr Newsome did say anything people can touch poses a potential problem. 

'People working in the supermarkets should be picking all of the fruit and veg up and setting it back down with protection,' he said.

Luckily he noted a large proportion of shelf stackers and general workers wearing gloves and disinfecting their hands at every turn.

The best course of action is to wash your fruit and vegetables with soap as soon as you bring them home, not simply relying on the high heat of cooking them to 'kill' the virus.

'Wash them with warm soapy water, just as you do your hands,' he said.