[Parnassia]

Totally shocked? For Pete's sake OP, you bought your lettuce from Whole Foods! According to them, they're the first and only certified organic grocery chain in the USA! People who choose organic food need to deal with the fact that some unexpected ingredients are going to go along with it...insects.

Organic or not, there are multiple times between harvest and refrigerator an insect can meet up with fresh produce. Before and after some grocer "checks" it. According to a Scientific American publication, the average American ingests about 2 pounds of insects/insect parts off their food each year. If they buy organic, probably more than that.

As others have already pointed out, finding a live insect is an indicator your lettuce wasn't drenched in pesticides. The insect is harmless. Pesticides aren't.

[GrandviewGloria]

As others have said, finding a spider, is a sign that maybe the lettuce was not grown under toxic conditions, and maybe is not laced with pesticides which will undermine your health.

If you actually ingested the spider, it would not be harmful to you. Spiders are very clean, and are not vectors of disease. And any poisons they possess, would be destroyed by your digestive system. Too, if anything, the spider would be a (tiny) source of protein.

A lot of people - the sorts who were not able to assimilate the knowledge offered in Biology classes - the sorts whose families produced their first High School graduates post-WW2 - the sorts who think that boys and girls need to be exaggerated "all-boy" or "girlygirl" gender caricatures - think that acting extra-horrified about bugs, makes them fancy or ladylike or classy (or something).

Emily Post assigned such people to a caste she called 'The Nobackgrounds'. This was a caste below 'The Gildings'.

Miss Manners proffered the concept of some things' being BENEATH NOTICE. In other words, one should pay those things as little notice as possible. In this case, quickly rinsing the spider off the leaf, without making a fuss, would have been the proper response.

In Manhattan, we pay extra - a LOT extra - for flowers produced as naturally as possible [most people settle for imported flowers, whose chemical-intensive production destroys the health of displaced native peoples working in the fields and greenhouses (whose lands have been stolen by the flower producers), and then goes on to undermine the health of both Florist and Consumer].

There are occasional caterpillars and spiders, in those flowers. I've had to school two of our guards, and one of the granddaughters' tutors (all come from Lower Middle Class backgrounds), on the fact that the tiny fauna among our flora, are, if anything, status symbols. (and that carrying-on about them, is not a way to gain our admiration)

OP's spider, likewise, should be viewed as a sign of one's being able to afford better produce.

[thetiredone]

Originally Posted by ndcairngorm

It may not be a troll, it just may be someone that has no idea where their food comes from. Things that are grown in the ground get bugs on them. Things that are not grown in the ground, i.e. hydro-grown things, get bugs on them.

You should be washing off your lettuce carefully no matter where you bought it. Take off however many leaves you need, put them in a sink full of lukewarm water with a drop or two of Dawn in it, and scrummage around. Then rinse. THEN put them in your salad spinner.

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

It's completely natural and expected given how food is grown and transported. And one reason why you're supposed to wash off fresh produce before consuming/cooking. Absent there being signs of an infestation that consumed much of the plant and helped lead to rot. I'd wash and eat.

I know that lettuce grows in the ground like a lot of other vegetables, but I thought they got screened before going to the market and at the market to ensure that they are safe to eat for the public.

I always wash off all my produce but using Dawn I am not sure about plus I don't have a salad spinner. Just the thought of using Dawn turns me off.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by thetiredone

I know that lettuce grows in the ground like a lot of other vegetables, but I thought they got screened before going to the market and at the market to ensure that they are safe to eat for the public.

I always wash off all my produce but using Dawn I am not sure about plus I don't have a salad spinner. Just the thought of using Dawn turns me off.

Don't use Dawn. Use a few drops of lemon or lime juice with water, and rinse thoroughly. You can even buy products specifically for produce (Veggie Wash is a popular one) made with citrus oils.

There are spiders at supermarkets. There are spiders in your house. There are spiders in your garage, in the trunk of your car, on the side of the step to your front door.

Once in awhile, a spider will end up in your produce. Such is the nature of things grown in nature.

[Bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Spiders and bugs are crawling all over the lettuce in the field.
Personally, I can't imagine why people eat lettuce, but if you are going to just wash it off. Lettuce has no taste; maybe the spider does.


This is in a Florida post? Do you know how many spiders and insects there are in Florida?!

We literally are "Bug Heaven" here in Florida!

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Spiders and bugs are crawling all over the lettuce in the field.
Personally, I can't imagine why people eat lettuce, but if you are going to just wash it off. Lettuce has no taste; maybe the spider does.
!

IMO, different lettuce types very much have different tastes.

[thetiredone]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

Don't use Dawn. Use a few drops of lemon or lime juice with water, and rinse thoroughly. You can even buy products specifically for produce (Veggie Wash is a popular one) made with citrus oils.

There are spiders at supermarkets. There are spiders in your house. There are spiders in your garage, in the trunk of your car, on the side of the step to your front door.

Once in awhile, a spider will end up in your produce. Such is the nature of things grown in nature.

Oh I definitely know there are spiders in my house. I have traps all over the places since I have frequent bugs. They don't bother me really just don't want to be bit by one.

[thetiredone]

Originally Posted by Bobdreamz

We literally are "Bug Heaven" here in Florida!

Definitely agree

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by thetiredone

Oh I definitely know there are spiders in my house. I have traps all over the places since I have frequent bugs. They don't bother me really just don't want to be bit by one.

If you have a lot of cockroaches or ants on a regular basis, then you should consider scrubbing down the entire house, and then have a professional come in to treat the home properly, not merely traps. If you have a lot of those tiny flies that come out of the drain, see about getting a plumber to check on that.

If you just have occasional days/weeks during the year when there are a few roaches or a small army of ants roaming around your kitchen counters, then yeah traps are the way to go.

Otherwise, don't try to kill the spiders if you can possibly avoid it. Instead lead them outside the house where they can serve as natural pesticides, eating the bugs and preventing them from getting into your house in the first place.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

Wash carefully if it’s a one bug situation; toss if it’s multiple bugs. (There’s one brand of organic leash-walked lettuce I don’t buy anymore because of a five bug container of it.)

Not sure I'd buy lettuce that expected to be walked on a leash, organic or not.