Costco Frog Salad: Does Organic Food Come With Live Treats? (VIDEO)

Liya Ma, a special education teacher in Pasadena, California, was in for a big surprise (in a small body) when she bought a box of organic salad from the Alhambra Costco on Monday. As she told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, when she picked up the plastic container, she "saw two little eyes looking at me. I screamed and I dropped it." Looking up at Ma was a live tree frog.

Ma took the box to the Costco store manager and, rather than complaining, asked if she could keep the frog as a pet. The store manager agreed to give Ma both the salad and frog for free. Ma proceeded to name the pet "Dave" and take it home to show her friends.

Craig Wilson, Costco's vice president of food safety, told the SGV Tribune he has never heard of this happening before. "I am stunned that this happened," Wilson said. "It's the kind of thing we don't want to tolerate."

Wilson continued, "If you consider that he's been under refrigeration.. you go, 'Holy cow he's one tough frog.' "

The salad Ma bought was an organic spring mix grown and packaged by Babe Farms of Santa Maria. Judy Lundberg, the president of Babe Farms, told the Huffington Post that the incident actually confirms that her product is safe and healthy.

"[The salad] is strictly organic, so there's no sprays and pesticides," said Lundberg. Instead, the product is cleaned by running it through washers and shakers, explained Lundberg, and Babe Farms processes 20,000 pounds of salad a day this way.

Lundberg is taking the attention to her company in stride, and, like Wilson, expressed admiration for the hardy tree frog. "There are very few instances in which this happens, and in this case, the little critter lived and was healthy."

Comments

[see-ellen2001]

10:25 PM on 11/07/2011

Is it the produce dept? Is it a pet store? Is it the produce dept? Is it a pet store?

[emism]

06:31 PM on 11/14/2011

Hi everybody! Check out this website arranged by Hunter College students to inform the public about Organic Myths: http://buythelabel.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/test/

[sacmom3]

12:11 PM on 11/07/2011

Poor little guy, I bet he was traumatized. lol

[jetle25]

11:24 AM on 11/07/2011

New way to market organics. Come's with free organic pet. I think that was awesome.

[BahtHarim]

04:20 PM on 11/06/2011

Rather than being grossed out, I will now go out of my way to buy this brand at Costo, as there is no doubt that this produce is organic; I can trust this grower.

[ChoppyBob]

07:04 PM on 11/06/2011

excellent point!

[t-bonus]

07:48 PM on 11/07/2011

exactly baht. can't believe this idiot lady said I'll never buy from Costco again!

[kareemachan]

11:52 AM on 11/05/2011

Tree frogs are hardy little critters. I can only garden in containers on my deck, and every year, we have 5-10 living there. I can still hear them croaking sometimes even now. I got to watch one little fella stalk and catch a yellow jacket last month - good frog!!

[ClevelandLib]

11:15 PM on 11/04/2011

I would brag about the frog being alive and healthy too. It most definitely is a testament to the produce. Amphibians are extremely vulnerable to pesticides moreso than any other species.

I grow a lot of my own produce, use no chemicals, make my own compost and mulch only with shredded leaves. I buy what I can't grow from local farms that don't use chemicals. A friend of mine asked me about produce with bug bites out of them, I told her to wash it and cut around the spot, the rest of the veggie is fine. If a bug doesn't want to eat it then neither should you.

Americans want their food to look like magazine pictures, that's not nature, you can get a perfect looking tomato but it will taste like nothing. An imperfect tomato you grow and ripen on your own vine or buy fresh picked locally will taste like no tomato you've ever had. It's a revelation.

[mlaiuppa]

02:16 AM on 11/05/2011

I eat my perfect tomatoes. The others supply seeds for next year's garden. The bugs don't get that many of them.

[ButterFlyGirlFly]

07:32 PM on 11/04/2011

That frog is so fresh, you know he is organic. As soon as the lid was opened his abode became contaminated.

[rMatey]

05:05 PM on 11/04/2011

I didn't even know Costco carried frogs' feet. I hope she didn't eat Dave.

[Ann Gentry]

04:45 PM on 11/04/2011

oh!, for crying out loud it was a tiny frog loving the organic salad greens.
i'm with ya, i wouldn't be happy to find a critter in my salad mix, but these things happen.
i hope this doesn't make the nightly news!

[mdg0148]

03:16 PM on 11/04/2011

since when is a frog not organic.frogs legs taste great

[Salanry]

02:25 PM on 11/04/2011

Always wash your salad, even when it comes in a plastic box that says pre-washed.

[Bleedin Taxes]

02:22 PM on 11/04/2011

If your buying organic then you should be prepared to encounter a less "sterile" product. The fact that a frog was alive in the salad indicates the lettuce didn't contain pesticides. I have a healthy frog population in my yard because I use no pesticides or fertilizers. Frogs are very subject to pesticide poisioning. I say just wash it and be happy the salad was chemical free! The spokesman, Mr Froggie, was proof!

[TeriA1]

02:30 PM on 11/04/2011

So it's a good thing? "Any more snow in here and we could ski", Alan Brady

[Bleedin Taxes]

03:57 PM on 11/04/2011

Pesticides are poison. Certified organic is pesticide free. Pesticide free products may have imperfections or damage to the product due to pests or even contain the pests themselves. Also included in banned products used in certified organic are certain cleaning or preserving chemicals. Which would have severely affected the frog if not killed it. All I'm saying is the lettuce had to be truly organic for the frog to have survived so that's a good thing. The manufacturer was however, lax in their cleaning processes. Because of that the poor frog could have ended up in Death Valley and died! Thank goodness it shipped to a more frog friendly area. Now as for snow storms... all natural here. No machine made artificial flurries either! ROFL
If you want organic be prepared to encounter nature's critters on occasion. If you want sterile pristine products then happy DDT to you!

[ClevelandLib]

11:18 PM on 11/04/2011

It is a good thing. Pesticides are poison. I don't put any chemicals on the food I grow. I make sure I invite the birds, snakes and frogs in so they take care of any non-beneficial insects. Frogs are especially sensitive to chemicals, all amphibians are. A little frog poop or pee will wash off when you rinse the greens.

[bmitche]

02:14 PM on 11/04/2011

Since the manager had been informed, and he was nice enough to give her the frog as a pet, I don't think I would have gone public about it.

[TeriA1]

02:28 PM on 11/04/2011

How about her being nice enough not to sue?

[lymie61]

04:20 PM on 11/04/2011

Sue for what?

[ClevelandLib]

11:18 PM on 11/04/2011

Sue for what? The live frog means the greens were pure and chemical free. A dead frog would have meant something else.

[mcgowann]

01:53 PM on 11/04/2011

Since when did tiny frogs get put in the same category as rats and cockroaches? Even the old wives tale about getting warts from frogs is untrue. I haven't heard of any salmonella outbreaks due to frog contamination. Couldn't believe how these wimps screamed like babies when they though the frog had gotten away. Wonder how they'd react to an earthworm? Ha!

[destin023]

01:49 PM on 11/04/2011

Great recovery by the organic farming owner. I guess this also means the frog was sterilized, didn't eat the product itself or urinate all over it in the process. I think they need to include insects of all varieties to show their products are safe..

[ClevelandLib]

11:20 PM on 11/04/2011

Oh please, just rinse it off, throw in a little baking soda if you're worried. You're not going to get sick from a little frog pee.