Woman Finds Frog in Salad

While organically grown food may boast a lack of pesticide use, nothing says “picked fresh from the garden” quite like finding a frog in your salad.

That’s exactly what happened to Liya Ma, a teacher from South Pasadena Monday night.

Ma was shopping in a Costco in Alhambra, Calif., when she noticed two beady eyes peering back at her from the box of the organic greens she picked up off the shelf.

“I was looking at the expiration date for the salad, and I saw two eyes looking at me and I thought, ‘What is this?’” said Ma. “I was so scared! I screamed and I dropped the box!”

Instead of flying into a panic, all Ma wanted was to ask the manager if she could keep the frog as a pet.

“Lots of people in Costco took pictures,” said Ma.

Ma named the frog Dave, after a Costco employee at the Alhambra store.

“The first night I took the frog home, I was more concerned about the lettuce and the frog. I wasn’t even thinking – I put the whole thing in the refrigerator!” said Ma.  

The lettuce in question hailed from Babe Farms, a specialty vegetable farm in Santa Maria, Calif.

“This is a symptom of a problem with manufacturing,” said FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancy. “We would hope that this consumer would file a complaint with the FDA.”

DeLancy said when a consumer files a report, the FDA sends out investigators to inspect the manufacturing process to try and determine where contamination may have occurred.

“It’s something our inspectors look at to determine the chain of custody.”

When contacted, an individual who identified herself as Donna at the Alhambra Costco, refused to comment.

Ma said Dave was energetic and very happy. She is currently keeping him in the salad container, feeding him crickets.

She plans on using this opportunity as a chance to teach her students about frogs.

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