‘Crying and throwing up’: Diner discovers a thoroughly unwelcome intruder in her half-eaten salad

Guys, I’ve got a story that might make you swear off salads for good, or at least leave you with a forever-imprinted image that haunts every crunchy bite you dare to take hereafter.

We have all had our fair share of weird things in our food (No? Just me?). You may have found a hair in the soup and thought, “Well, at least it’s not a cockroach”? Or maybe you’ve bitten into a sandwich only to discover a piece of plastic wrap lurking between the layers. But let me tell you, nothing compares to the surprise one unsuspecting diner found lurking in her half-eaten salad. If you’ve managed to make it this far, I commend you. You’re clearly made of sterner stuff than I am or just the right amount of curious and twisted to dive deeper. Nevertheless, let me offer a word of caution: If you’re currently chowing down on some grub, you might want to put that utensil on standby. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

So, this woman, who goes by the TikTok username @lkimberly22, was enjoying a lovely salad. In her video, ominously titled “I. Cant. Even.,” she was happily munching away, savoring each crisp leaf and tangy dressing. Little did she know, as she shoveled forkful after forkful of that seemingly innocent salad into her mouth, that she was mere moments away from discovering something so vile that it would forever shatter her faith in the sanctity of the salad bowl.

As she neared the halfway point of her meal, our diner decided to do a bit of excavation. And that’s when she saw it. There, nestled among the once-enticing veggies, lay the lifeless corpse of a mouse. Yup, a deceased, no-longer-squeaking rodent, right there in her salad bowl, mere centimeters away from where her fork had been merrily skipping just moments before. (Or worse, maybe even riding the fork express, seasoning each subsequent bite with the essence of Eau de mouse.)

Alas, what was supposed to be a Ratatouille-quality meal turned into a crime scene with the untimely demise of its would-be chef. And here you thought Ratatouille had given rodents a chance at redemption in the kitchen.

The internet, of course, had a field day with this one. Comments ranged from the horrified “Where is this salad from?!” to the darkly humorous “Yummy protein” and the slightly blasphemous “Oh baby Jesus.” Others advocated for suing the pants off the establishment that served the meal. And then there were those who wondered about the aftermath. Was there a refund issued or perhaps an offer of therapy sessions for the trauma? Did the woman file a lawsuit and become an overnight millionaire?

Whatever the outcome, somewhere out there, @lkimberly22 is probably still screaming in horror. Restaurants have a responsibility to ensure that their food is safe and free from contaminants, especially those of the furry variety. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a staggering 48 million people in the United States fall victim to foodborne illnesses every single year. That’s roughly one in six people.

But it gets even more disturbing. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) actually has a handbook called the “Food Defect Levels Handbook” that outlines the acceptable levels of “defects” in our food. And by “defects,” they mean things like insects, rodent hair, and even – brace yourself – fecal matter. If that doesn’t make you want to grow your own veggies and raise your livestock, I don’t know what will. However, at least by staying informed, we can minimize the risk of becoming another food safety statistic.