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.
We at FROG (Frogs & Reptiles, Organically Grown) wish to object to the mistreatment of our new product at Lighthouse Patriot Journal. As you are well aware, the Geneva Conventions do not prohibit “alternative methods of propagation” for frogs and we are well within our legal rights in offering this new salad mixture for American consumers.
We heard the demands of American consumers for a ready-made “chef’s salad” product and decided to hop to it. As our spokesman, Kermit, said, “We wanted to get the jump on filling this demand with the OTHER Other White Meat before anyone else.”
We also wish to make it clear that our frogs come packaged only in the finest organically-grown lettuce. We would never package them with spinach. As you are aware, spinach has recently been shown to be a health hazard, which is something most kids have known for years.
Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight.
Ken: The”verdict” was not positive, but I am sure you agree the questioning factors of its truth … and thanks for the humor, I need it today. Posting the photo of the bag in question after I post this comment.
The gullibility of people who believe that this frog survived inside a plastic bag all the way to a store from a European (or even domestic) supplier is unbelievable. They probably also believed there was a human finger in Wendy’s chili that got lopped off in the meat processing and found its way intact into their paper cup of supper. And these are the U.S. voters, so well informed and quick to question what they’re told. Wow.
Yes, Marc the gullibility is obvious considering the results of election 2006.
Well – Its happened again. Just can’t keep those frogs out of the spinach…..
Popeye the spinach frog too much of a leap for some
Tuesday Apr 15 12:00 AEST
By Wade O’Leary and Matt Bachl
ninemsn
April Fools Day apparently came a couple of weeks late today with the widespread reproduction of a story that screamed urban myth — the live frog found in sealed bag of spinach.
An email from the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland appeared in media inboxes last night, revealing that an Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog had been given the moniker Popeye after being found in a sealed bag.
The missive claimed he had been rushed to the sanctuary after a supermarket customer cut him out of the package, where veterinarian nurse Mimi Dona proclaimed him to be in perfect health.
“Popeye is a healthy little frog and we would love to release him,” the release quoted her as saying.
“However, due to the possible threat of disease and that we are unsure of his origin, he will stay with us until his future is decided.”
The website of News Limited’s Daily Telegraph and the Fairfax website brisbanetimes.com.au both ran the story almost immediately, but a little research quickly threw the story into question.
The US blog Lighthouse Patriot Journal ran a “myth-blasting” rule over a near-identical story in September 2006 — including exactly the same photo as was provided with today’s press release.
While that site couldn’t certainly deny the story — describing it as “highly improbable” — we had to ask: how or why would an Australian frog end up in an Italian bag of spinach? How did it end up with the same name as the frog in 2006 … and another one found by a British family last week, as reported on the website of the UK newspaper The Guardian this past weekend?
Currumbin Sanctuary continue to maintain that the story is true, saying the frogs are known as “accidental hitchhikers” and are much smaller than the one pictured.
“It came in late last night and we wanted to protect the frog,” Ms Doni told ninemsn by way of explaining why the sanctuary sent around the 2006 photo.
“We knew the media were coming today and wanted to let him have a rest overnight … we sent the picture around the show people what a media opportunity this was.
“We didn’t mean to mislead anyone, we didn’t know the picture we sent around was a hoax — this is definitely true.
“I personally witnessed the lady bringing it into the hospital, I couldn’t imagine that she would have opened the bag and put a frog on it … I guess I can’t judge, can I?”
The problem with this defence is the last two paragraphs of the original press release, which read:
Attached is a photo of Popeye as he was brought into the Sanctuary.
He is also available for other photo opportunities and due to him being in such great health we are happy to re-bag him.
Woolworths spokesman Benedict Brooks, in whose product the frog was allegedly found, also could not definitely confirm or deny the possibility of a frog in the spinach.
“We try not to put frogs in bags of spinach, it’s not one of our policies — it’s not like one of those things where you get free things in bags of chips,” he said.
“Sometimes human error occurs but without investigating this further I can’t say this definitely didn’t happen.
“There are quality control measures in place to stop this sort of thing happening … if this is an incident at all, I think it would be extremely rare.”
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has promised to provide pictures of the frog and package in which it was allegedly found.
Steve (?):
Thanks for the update/addition on the frog story and stopping by to visit.
Best Regards …
lol ken youre not all that