Myth Blaster – Live Frog in Lettuce Bag?

Joan B., Illinois received this e-mail new in an American chain-mail circulation and this is certainly a challenge for Myth Blaster. …

Don’t forget this brand of fresh lettuce, folks. What probably happened is the water the lettuce was washed in contained polliwogs and these became fresh new frogs, right in the packages. So if you’re looking for salad fixins with a little more body, then be sure and try this brand. Don’t forget, it’s the extra care that Mexican companies take that makes the difference.
Go NAFTA!!!

Myth Blaster Verdict: Not Determined, but highly improbable.

For one, as confirmed by Urban Legends and Folklore, Florette is a European brand, not Mexican. The product was from Spain.

While the photo seems real enough with no signs of doctoring, the package could have been opened and the frog inserted into the package for the photo. According to the same source the story has been seen on Spanish-language blogs in May of 2006, and it was accompanied by a YouTube video which showed the frog wriggling around inside the bag. The Florette Company has information about their packaging and weighing process posted.

At Snopes, they describe the news coverage around the time of May 2006 after a consumer claimed to have purchased the salad product containing a live frog. Such claims have been made in England, Netherlands, and Australia. In the case of the Australian bagged salad product the frog was dead when found. While a direct answer is forthcoming from Florette and Snopes has also pegged this as an “undetermined” case.

In every case, the reality of such an occurrence has not been proved. Suppliers and processing plants claim that frogs cannot possibly survive the production processes. Like one blog commentator stated: “The tadpole could not have transformed in the bag because it is a nine-week process, which makes the bag of lettuce that old – not likely.”

The wonders of what people can do with computers and photography, plus the possibility of the bag being opened and frog put in it before picture was taken – plus the possibility of any living creature surviving the process (even if inserted in the bag by employee), wouldn’t have enough oxygen in the bag to live – all of which surfaces the thought that this is an elaborate hoax.

But, with the recent epidemic of ecoli bacteria found in bagged spinach, one would certainly want to exercise caution concerning these products – two people have died from it here in Wisconsin recently.