Lizard Found in my Mustard Greens

A usual grocery store trip resulted in one of the strangest experiences I've ever had after shopping.

September 28, 2016
Lizard Found in my Mustard Greens

On Saturday March 26th, 2016 we went to our local grocery store and bought some groceries. One of the things that we bought was Mustard Greens from the produce section.

I had never bought Mustard Greens before but thought I would this time because I have heard that leafy greens are good for you.

When we got home we started rinsing the Mustard Greens with water to clean them before sautéing them. While separating the leaves apart we noticed something that looked strange. As we looked closer at it we realized to our shock that it was a dead green lizard stuck to the Mustard Greens leaves!

Wow, the first time I have ever bough Mustard Greens and the first time I have ever found something like this in my food!

I looked at the receipt to get the store phone number and call the store manager, but there was only a toll free number to call. So I called the toll free number and got a recorded message stating that they were closed and that I could leave a message. I didn't leave a message; I wanted to talk to a real person.

The receipt had a PIN code that I could use on their website to leave my opinion on the shopping experience that I received at their store, so I used it to leave my opinion and experience shopping at their store and that I found a lizard in my Mustard Greens.

I think the grocery store should carefully inspect each leaf of greens before placing it on the shelf. How could a lizard get into the Mustard Greens? I can't imagine it crawling around the grocery store produce shelves and then somehow dying between Mustard Greens leaves.

It must have been there from the time it was harvested at the grower's farm. Eventually it made its way to the grocery store shelf in the produce isle, then to my shopping cart, then into my car, then my refrigerator, and eventually to my kitchen sink where we found it.

I may never buy leafy greens from the produce isle again, but if I do, I'll definitely inspect each leaf of greens carefully before placing it in my shopping cart!

I'll update this page when or if I hear back from the grocery store.

Update
I never heard back from the grocery store which was discouraging, but about a month after submitting my opinion on their website the store started doing renovations to the produce section. A large portion of their produce section was shut down with only a small section available to the public with a limited selection of produce.

During this time the flooring was pulled up exposing the concrete floor underneath. A big hole was dug out through the concrete where some kind of work was being done under the ground; weird to see this inside a grocery store. These renovations lasted about 2 months!

After all this work was completed the entire produce section is now a giant refrigerated room that you walk through, it actually feels very cold as you walk through and shop for produce. Also the entire grocery store now has new flooring throughout.

So did my opinion submitted on their website prompt the renovations to the produce section? I like to think so, which underscores the importance of submitting your shopping opinion on their website; it can improve your shopping satisfaction at your local grocery store.

I still shop at this grocery store and I'm very impressed at the level of effort they made to improve the store! But I still can't bring myself to buy the Mustard Green again!