When Sainsbury’s advertised Taste The Different parsnips, a woman didn’t realise just how ‘different’ they would be.
The British mum picked up some root vegetables from her local supermarket and popped them into her fridge for a few days. She didn’t notice anything untoward – until she went to cook them.
After reaching for the bag, she spotted something inside moving. To her horror, a living toad was hiding among the vegetables.
In a short clip posted by an acquaintance on TikTok, she explained: “I went to cut the bag but something moved and inside I found, oh my God it’s moving, a toad. It’s very much alive. There is an air hole in the bag so it’s managed to stay alive. It must have been very cold in the fridge. Can you please let us know what we should do next?”
The video has since 1.4 million views and more than 45,600 likes. People also took the time to leave comments – with many unable to resist cracking jokes.
One asked: “Did you buy on self checkout because surely would have been unexpected item in bagging area.” Another joked: “‘Taste the difference. You get what you paid for.” And a third added: “Just checked mine and no frog, so disappointed! Where’s my frog!”
Even though many responders urged the mum to let the frog out in her garden, she decided to ring Columbines Wildlife Care in Kent for help. The toad is now receiving proper care.
The video added: “It’s been named Nippy and is now being professionally taken care of at Columbines Wildlife Care. He’ll then be released back into the wild in the spring!”
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “We’ve reached out to the customer to say how sorry we are for her experience and arranged a refund as well as a gesture of goodwill. We have strict quality control measures in place to prevent this type of thing from happening and are investigating this rare experience with our supplier.”