On Jan. 29, Michelle Carr of Kittery, Maine prepared a salad with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado, but what she found on the other end of her fork when she went to take a bite wasn't any of those items.
Instead, what Carr saw was the carcass of a five-inch lizard according to the Boston Globe.
"It was longer than my middle finger without its tail," Carr told the Globe. "We're not talking about a spider or a bug or even a little salamander. This was a huge lizard with scales."
The lizard was originally inside a bag of store-brand romaine that Carr purchased at Shaw's supermarket in Portsmouth, New Hampshire according to SeaCoastOnline.com.
Carr, a new mother who is still breastfeeding, was instantly worried about risks of E. coli or Salmonella after finding the lizard and contacted the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS), as well as supermarket representatives.
A spokesperson from Shaw's grocery store said the company, "takes all issues regarding the quality and safety of any product sold in our stores very seriously" and has notified the supplier about the issue.
A representative from the NHDHHS forwarded Carr's complaint to the FDA as the lettuce was packaged and shipped out of state in California.
Carr and her son never experienced any signs of illness.
The lizard was later identified by Carr's biologist friend as a blue-belly lizard, native to California and other western states.
