This Earthbound Farm Organic Salad Comes With A Free Dirty Glove
Reader Justin claims he discovered this gray glove in a package of Earthbound Farm organic salad. Salads, organic or otherwise, do not typically contain prizes, and Justin's reaction ("I was mortified") is understandable. The experience has scarred Justin's psyche and he is left wondering, "How many times was I one package away from eating glove?" Additional picture inside.
I'm willing to concede that the stray rodent skull or giant metal clamp will occasionally slip past the most vigilant of inspectors, but I would think that even a less-than-diligent employee would notice he just lost a glove. For one thing, his hand would probably get cold. And someone should have noticed a giant gray object in a box of leafy greens. We advised Justin to get in touch with Earthbound Farm and let them know that their salads are not children's cereal, and should not come with a treat.
Organic Glove [justinthecity]
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Comments:
That doesn't look like a Certified Organic glove, either...
(may as well get that bad joke done with :))
No, the glove was made without pesticides. That means it must be organic.
@dereksea: Do you lurk around looking to jump all over someone? I'm all for informed reading, but that glove looks like one of the little stretchy ones you can easily purchase at 2 pairs for $5. Those weigh nothing! Many people run into the store to pick up a few dinner ingredients, and might not thoroughly inspect the clear salad box (which is loaded with different colored lettuces anyway, and yes, I know the lettuce is not grey, but it's often dark), especially if they usually buy that product. Would it be better for the consumer/OP to carefully investigate everything he buys? Of course. Is it likely that most people have time for that every single time they shop? I doubt it.
...believe it or not, your leafy greens grew in dirt, and were picked by people who wear gloves!
Granted there are legitimate issues of product contamination, but I just gotta wonder how many of these claims are really the work of the employees working for the product's competitor.
I'm not sure Justin knows what "mortified" means.
Or Alex. Interesting - I did a straw poll of my identical twin and my wife and they both had the same definition as Justin - dictionary.reference.com agrees with me though.
Does one not inspect their salad before buying it? I think a simple lookover of the box before purchase would have revealed a glove.
As someone who used to work in the produce department of a grocery store, from firsthand experience, I can tell you that these organic salads typically come to the store in big bags that are then weighed out, priced, into individual containers by the employees at the grocery store. Perhaps it wasn't Earthbound Farms at fault, but the grocery store where the salad was purchased.
I'm not excusing anyone, but dereksea's comment about the weight is valid, since a glove like that would probably double the weight and thus the price of the salad.
that's pretty fresh salad!!!
OMG a glove in my salad !
I once found a plastic glove in my granola ... probably fell in on the packaging line from one of the workers ...
My solution : i didnt eat it, called the company, the said sorry and sent me two packages of the same stuff.
I mean .. stuff like that can happen. And as long as you dont eat it ... its fine. (and its hard to miss such a glove)
@arachnophilia: I totally agree. I bet just about everyone who handled the lettuce wore a glove similar to that one. I'm sure the guy lost it at the end of his shift or beginning of a break.
Redwraithvienna, please remember that this is The Consumerist, and The Consumerist has no tolerance for any mistakes or accidents.
Justin should sue their pants off, or at least urge a boycott or report them to as many regulatory groups as possible.
dude, why are Sears and Comcast "related links" on this post, Chasick???
From the article: "I must say the feeling I experienced when finding that glove while forking through my dinner was certainly a different feeling than I had ever experienced before."
Is he saying he was eating a salad and then noticed a glove?? Justin just started a blog, seems like he wants us to notice it.
SOLUTION: Throw away the glove, wash the lettuce, move on. The glove doesn't even look dirty, and lettuce grows out of dirt.
I used to buy this brand of lettuce. It is packed in the containers pretty tight. If the glove was in the middle you would not see it.
@dereksea: Unless you have an elaborate indoor growing set up with grow lights your not growing your own lettuce during the winter in most northern states. There just isn't enough light when it is damn near dark all the time.
God, could this guy use more hyperbole?
serves the tree huggin "organic" eater right, that is nothing but a word, it's the same food I buy at the grocery store just twice the price
I think items like this are The Consumerist's one weak spot. I mean, where is the proof here? A few pix? How difficult would it be to throw a glove in there, snap a few pix, and send it in to The Consumerist hoping some embarrassed exec will offer him a free lifetime's supply of lettuce?
Where's the validation? Where's the skepticism?
That glove looks a little to clean also.
Actually I would rather get a glove from Earthbound in my salad than the prize they offered last year. 862 cases of E-Coli.
They should start calling it salad surprise.
@nebraskabill: I don't think anyone is 'served right' by finding a glove in their food, whether it's a bag of salad, a can of beans or a box of frozen fish sticks. If you don't care for organic food, then just don't buy it. OTOH, if you don't care for people who buy organic food, too bad for you.
Yup... One morning I went to a deli and ordered a toasted bagel with cream cheese... Nothing to major, right?
Well the counter person handed the wrapped bagel to the cashier and I saw what looked like a piece of plastic on it. I went to pull it off but it was stuck. I pulled and then realized he had wrapped his plastic foodservice glove into the middle of the bagel.
I complained and the cashier opened the bagel (yes with his grubby hands) and proceeded to remove the glove from the cream cheese, wrap it back up and he tried to ring me up.
He got pissed off when I told him I didn't want it anymore. He said I ordered it and now I am wasting their money and if I didn't pay for it he was going to call the cops. Yeah, ok buddy.... And I walked out.
I do not envy Justin the deep psychological trauma he must be facing after this horrible shock. I hope Earthbound Farm will do the right thing by refunding his full purchase price, as well as footing the bill for any future counseling needs.
For those who might suggest that a relatively benign cloth glove isn't as terrible as, say, a box of granola that bites you back; consider the likelihood that the glove in question was made in China.
Well, first of all, I am having a hard time believing this since there aren't many details (was it sealed? Did he call the grocery store?) and this was said:
"Justin's reaction ("I was mortified") is understandable. The experience has scarred Justin's psyche and he is left wondering, "How many times was I one package away from eating glove?"
It sounds like it was an over-dramatic prank on the Consumerist.
It's a new feature. NEW! High fiber salads!!
Although I'm sure that Earthbound Farms is taking this seriously.
mortified? i hope the company mails him an oed.
also it's a glove, just remove it and let the company know because apparently palm and fingers are packaged separately. it's not a human finger. christ what a whiner.
@KogeLiz:
It sounds like it was an over-dramatic prank on the Consumerist.
Oh sure you SAY that, but deep in the back of your mind you'll never feel truly safe from the perils of prepackaged salads again.
You'll walk down the produce aisle nervously eying each and every box, thinking to yourself, "is that the one?"
You'll have to trust instinct, fate, and watch the girl at the checkout for a fleeting smile of smug satisfaction. If at any moment she seems inordinately pleased to be selling you that particular salad, for the love of god, demand to see her gloves.
He was "mortified?" Is that really what he wants to say, or is that just the longest word he knows?
And did he Smell the Glove?
If Justin's very psyche was scarred by this, then perhaps he has more pressing matters to worry about than a glove in his salad.
Did the glove fit?
looks like it was planted to me
As a member of the fresh-cut produce industry, I have to question the validity of this post. For one, this type of glove would never be used in the production plant or the field (and could not make it through from the field through package anyway).
Second, that packaged salad is probably five or more days old by the time it was purchased, yet the glove appears to be dry. It should have soaked up all the moisture in the package, which would have dried out the lettuce leaves.
Foreign material does slip through during production, but it's rare and there are safeguards. E. coli, listeria or salmonella are another story. I'd be more worried about those than a random glove.
At least the glove did not contain
a severed hand.
Could it be that some Foxglove was
growing near the crop, and was
inadvertently harvested?
The same thing happened to me yesterday, when I opened my Shotz beer.
I, for one, welcome this salad packaged by the people who bring us Cracker Jack.
Seriously, it's a glove. It's not a body part (human or rodent), and it's big enough to be discovered before ingesting anything.
Bring it back to the store for a replacement.
Unless, of course, you'd rather drive attention to your new blog.
Oh Jesus Christ, who cares!! Even if this isn't a prank, it's a glove! Imagine how many gloves touched that salad before it was brought to you! Lettuce isn't grown in a sanitized lab. Shut up, wash it off, and eat it. Shame on you for posting this, Consumerist.
I can't get too worked up about this type of thing. In fact, if this happened to me, I'd probably be excited. Think of all the coupons for free salad! Sure, it's kind of gross, but it's not like it's a dead animal or pre-processed soylent green. I'd be far more upset about e. coli, really. That is a little tougher to see when you open the box.
I'm a pretty big fan of Earthbound Farms salads and this isn't going to dissuade me from buying their stuff. It's so much better than the bagged salads I can't even get over it. Yes, I *should* buy heads of lettuce and process them myself, but it's just as likely I will forget to do that and then wind up throwing out whole heads of lettuce. Which is pretty lame.
@Redwraithvienna: Excellent use of common sense!
Now if only the rest of the world would learn how to use it.
Gloves in your food processing industry? It's more common than you think! Action plan: Call the company, get a coupon, chuck this box, (profit?), move on with life.
I once found a boxcutter under my cheese slices at a high quality, well run, family owned store. When I came in they looked at it, were very apologetic (apparently it was the brand of cutter they buy)replaced my cheese, gave me a gift certificate and sent me away with a smile. But what bothered me was that they did not want to take my name down when I offered it, as if they wanted there to be no record of what happened.
I'm pretty sure that you would be able to tell if there was a foreign object inside the container when it was purchased. I've bought this exact product before and it's pretty light weight. Also, the greens aren't so densely packed that something GREY wouldn't be visible. I doubt the validity of this. Maybe this is encouragement to grow your own little patch of organic lettuce... you're already one glove closer to making it a reality.