Chewing gum riddled with bite marks was found stuck to Midget Gems in a newly opened pack bought from a Perth supermarket.
Gordon Kennedy says he spotted the sickly sight as soon as he opened the packet of his favourite sweets.
He bought the own-brand Midget Gems from the Sainsbury’s store on Perth High Street last week.
Gordon, of Simpson Square in Perth, said: “When I opened a packet of Midget Gems that I bought from Sainsbury’s Perth last Friday I was disgusted to find a piece of chewed chewing gum attached to a sweet.
“Luckily I saw it straight away. I was taken aback as there were still teeth marks on it.
“Somebody was obviously chewing gum while they were processing the sweets. I’m not going to eat them now.”
Gordon became concerned that Sainsbury’s were not taking his report of a hygiene breach seriously when he phoned to complain about the matter.
He continued: “I feel that this is totally unacceptable and needs to be highlighted. I’m concerned by how seriously they are taking this issue.
“When I contacted head office on Friday the person I spoke to was quite blas about it and said he would send me out a £10 gift card.
“But they never asked me to return it to the store for them to ascertain exactly what happened.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “This type of feedback is always taken very seriously.
“As the customer was confident he’d found chewing gum, it wasn’t necessary for us to see the item in order to launch an investigation, which we promptly did.”
Mr Kennedy has admitted the incident will not put him off purchasing more of his favourite sweet.