Liya Ma, a special education teacher in Pasadena, California, thought she was treating herself to two things when she was shopping for a bag of organic salad mix at her local Costco: Health and savings. But what she got was ... a frog. When Liya picked up a plastic container of Babe Farms spring mix, she saw "two little eyes looking at her." She screamed and dropped it. But what came next is fascinating ...
Instead of threatening to sue Costco or Babe Farms or anybody she could get her hands on, like most people would, Liya asked the store if she could keep the frog as a pet.
The store manager obliged her request and threw in the box of salad for free to boot. The frog is currently safe and sound at home with Liya, and he's been given the name Dave. I gotta hand it to Liya, man -- kudos for making frogs outta salad mix. I gotta be honest, not only do I find this super icky, I find it's making me question my organic produce buying.
Now, I'm not going to stop buying organic -- that's just crazy talk. The nine dollars I spend on a tiny container of blueberries each week is totally worth it, but I really need to inspect it more and wash it ... harder.
On two different occasions I've opened a box of lettuce to find a bug. Not quite as intense as an amphibian, but it was still gross. I remember a friend of mine, who was privy to my screaming and dropping the box, saying: "That's why you gotta stick with the stuff with the pesticides." No, I will not do that. Not with produce, at least. But I do like the luxury of knowing my vegetables won't come with any creatures.
Terrie Cardoza, spokeswoman for Babe Farms, said the frog presumably survived because the lettuce is not chopped before packaging and no pesticides were used. She said, "Those kind of things can occasionally happen."
I guess they can, Terrie, I guess they can. And you know what? I'll stay aboard the organic train. But I can guarantee I won't be as understanding as Liya if I ever find a frog in my greens.
What's the grossest thing you've ever found in your food?
Image via KRO-Media/Flickr
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Comments 29
My chef in school said that at one upscale restaurant a customer found a live snail in they're salad.
People are quick to sue and I kinda think it is cool that the lady was so nice about it and wanted to keep the frog! I would too I love frogs!
I once found a cocooned caterpillar in a bag of steamed green beans. Belch.
I love frogs, I would have wanted to keep it too. LOL
I have found spiders, worms, and other manner of bugs in food before.
I did once find a moth and some larvae in a bag of boxed pasta salad. I threw it out.
But these instances did not stop me from eating spaghetti or pasta salad ever again.
And I read somewhere that the average bottle of peanut butter contains like 13 insect parts, but as long as I dont see it, or god forbid, crunch into it, I will continue to eat that also.
Alive frog is better that a dead frog in her salad.
I found little flies plastic-wrapped into some garlic bread I bought at the grocery store's bakery. AFTER I bought it. :p Too late.
That's not particularly gross. Knowing that the lettuce was chemical and pesticide-free enough that a frog could live in the bag would be very reassuring to me. What's gross is the disgusting chemicals that are put on non-organic food.
I once found a caterpillar in a bunch of lettuce I purchased at the farmer's market. My son and I looked at it, thought it was cool, then let it go in the back yard. Hardly a big deal.