Found: A Dead Bat in a Pre-Packaged Salad

In the world of mass food production, the sheer scale of food being processed means that, on occasion, some creature that’s not supposed to be in the food gets in the food. Spiders are found quite frequently hanging out in bags of grapes; mice turn up in Subway sandwiches and Popeye’s chicken orders. But it’s rare to find a bat.

Recently, though, two Floridians bought a box of Organic Marketside Spring Mix from Walmart and started eating it, only to find a dead bat hiding in their leafy greens.

The bat was not in great condition. “The animal’s decayed state prevented a definitive test of whether it had rabies,” the Guardian reports.

It’s very unlikely that anyone would get rabies from eating a dead bat—or salad touched by a dead bat—even if the dead bat did have rabies. Still, the two unfortunate Floridians were treated for rabies. (They’re both doing fine.)

Right now, it’s still unclear how that bat ended up in the boxed salad; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating. Meanwhile, the company who made the salad, Fresh Express, has recalled that batch of salad mix. If you have such a salad with a clear container and the code G089B19 on it…probably a good idea to toss it.

Gastro Obscura covers the world’s most wondrous food and drink.
Sign up for our regular newsletter.