PHILADELPHIA -- A Philadelphia family said they made a disturbing discovery at the dinner table Wednesday night.

Earl Hartman, of South Philadelphia, said the incident started at a Pathmark supermarket with a can of green beans and ended in his kitchen.

"I'll never eat green beans again, I'll tell you that," Hartman said.

Even the Jolly Green Giant might think twice about changing his diet if he found a snake head in his beans.

Hartman said he found it between the chicken breast and buttered noodles he was serving for dinner Wednesday night and that it came out of the green beans can.

"When I sat down, I noticed something didn't look right. It didn't look like a green bean," he said.

Hartman said he called the Pathmark where he bought the beans and Thursday received a call from Seneca Foods in upstate New York, where the vegetables were canned.

"The company said that they have an automated sorting and sometimes things like this happen. I asked about the rest of the body and he told me that it was probably kicked out by the sorter, but they're not sure," he said.

Of course, there are places in the world where they might not have thrown out the green beans and considered the snake a delicacy, but South Philadelphia doesn't happen to be one of them.

"I want people to know and to be aware what may be in your food before you eat it. Just check it out," Hartman said.

Hartman said he doesn't intend to sue and said that Seneca Foods told him it is sending him some sort of a container to ship the snake head back to them so they can investigate.

The manager at Pathmark was not permitted to comment, and no one answered when WCAU-TV in Philadelphia called Seneca Foods late Thursday.