Finding something unusual in a takeout meal can easily leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Across social media, we’ve seen numerous stories of people discovering unusual (and sometimes dangerous) objects in their food, such as a fingernail in a Texas Roadhouse steak and a blade in a Whataburger cheeseburger. A four-legged insect in a Sweetgreen salad was enough to spark outrage in this California woman and to call out the Santa Monica location.
What did this woman find in her Sweetgreen salad?
“Sweetgreen on Fourth Street in Santa Monica, count your days, ’cause we have beef now,” TikTok creator Jennie (@jenleenie) says. “Why the [expletive] would you do this to me?”
Then, she flips the camera to unveil her salad. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything obviously wrong with it. “I was just eating my lunch, and I discovered this,” she says. When the content creator zooms in on her salad, a grasshopper is masquerading as a snap pea, blending into her leafy greens.
“Sweetgreen, why would you do that to me?” Jennie asks, her voice cracking on the verge of tears.
She continues to express her dismay in the caption, “@sweetgreen taco bell would never do this to me.”
Viewers were repulsed
Jennie’s bidpe racked up over 119,000 views. Many shared how they would’ve reacted in this situation. Needless to say, they were just as disgusted.
“I ALMOST THREW UP TOO?!!!” one viewer commented.
“Oh hell no. I’m sorry Jennie!!!! I would cry and throw up,” another echoed.
“I would be traumatized,” a third stated.
Meanwhile, it appears her experience wasn’t as uncommon as she thought.
“Yeah I found a cricket in my sweet green once …in my last bite,” one commenter shared.
“My first time at Sweetgreen was at this exact location, and there was a fly in my salad,” another recalled. “I went to get a refund and the lady accidentally double charged me instead of refunding me.”
How does this happen?
Despite the thought of ingesting a bug might be unpleasant for some, finding one in leafy greens does happen. According to Rutgers, this can occur during harvesting, processing, growth, or storage. Since Sweetgreen prides itself on using unprocessed ingredients, these have been minimally or not altered at all. As a result, it is more susceptible to bugs than those treated with pesticides.
However, biting into an insect shouldn’t cause any harm unless it’s fleas or beetles, because they can transmit tapeworms, or if you don’t have an allergy, per Mayo Clinic Laboratories. Nevertheless, you can contact the establishment if you wind up in the same boat as Jennie.
@jenleenie @sweetgreen taco bell would never do this to me ? #sweetgreen #bug #grasshopper ♬ oh my god bruh oh hell na man
The Mary Sue reached out to Jennie via TikTok comment and direct message as well as Sweetgreen via press email.
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