There’s just something about frogs, spiders and rats that make our skin crawl, especially when they come free in our bags of lettuce, grapes, frozen lemonade, and now, as one Oregon man claims, a Subway sandwich. 

A pair of friends’ trip to “Eat Fresh” at a local Oregon Subway shop last week included a decidedly “unfresh” – and unwanted ingredient: a dead rat, KGW-TV reports.

“It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s also the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen,” the man said. “I laughed because I was like, there is no way this just happened.”

The man says the trip to the sandwich shop started off normally. Both he and his friend ordered sandwiches with spinach, which was nearing the end of the container.

“I got my drink, turned around and they were in shock like something happened,” he said, noting that he was able to snap a photo (warning: dead rat). “There was a mouse in there. It was gross.”

The Subway franchise headquarters said that as soon as the issue was found, the customers were given a full refund and an investigation was launched.

“To be cautious, all of the products in the sandwich unit were disposed of and a thorough cleaning took place…there were no other complaints made,” the company said in a statement.

KGW reports that the county health department arrived at the restaurant, examined the rodent, the bin it came out of and searched the area for any signs of contamination.

“The investigation determined that the rodent problem did not come from inside the facility. It was probably in a bag of the bagged spinach product, not from the facility itself,” Cheryl Connell, Director Of Lincoln County Health and Human Services, said. “Everything was sanitized and cleaned properly afterwards.”

While it’s possible customers who ordered sandwiches with spinach at the restaurant earlier in the day may have consumed tainted greens, Connell says it was unlikely they would become sick.

“They [health inspectors] consulted with physicians and we followed their advice that, although it is not very appetizing, the risk of someone becoming sick due to eating lettuce with those particular circumstances were very low,” she said.

Dead rodent found in Subway sandwich in Lincoln City [KGW]

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