Picking produce at the grocery store is effectively its own art.
Between noticing even the subtlest of bumps and bruises, spores and sprouts, there are already so many things to look for when picking out the fruits and vegetables that will grace the family table.
However, there is yet another factor to consider: Produce that has been gnawed on by rodents.
In a video that has drawn over 432,000 views on TikTok, user @blueapplegreen shows potatoes she believes have been chewed on by rats, warning that shoppers should be very careful when picking their produce.
What’s wrong with the potatoes?
“I wanted to share with you guys some potatoes that have been eaten by rats,” she says in the video. “I know a lot of you, a lot of people out there eat potatoes. So I wanted to show you guys what a potato looks like when a rat has gnawed on it before you purchase it at the grocery store.”
The examples she shows appear to have small bites taken out of them, even with small tooth marks visible.
“Here’s one,” she says as she holds up the potato for the viewer to see. “You can see the rat teeth in there if you look closely. Here’s another one. If you look around the edges, you can see that they just went to town on those. Here’s another one, and here’s one more. So be careful when you choose your potatoes at the grocery store, make sure they have no holes, no scratch marks, no anything, or you will be feeding rat potatoes to your family.”
Is it bad to eat produce contaminated by rats?
Aside from potentially being enough to put some people off their appetite, eating produce contaminated by rodents can also come with significant health risks.
Rats and other rodents can carry and spread bacteria that can cause illnesses like rat bite fever—even if not bitten, as the bacteria is in their saliva—which can cause abscesses, inflammation of the liver and kidneys, pneumonia and subsequent lung scarring, infections of the membranes coating the spinal cord and brain stem as well as bone damage.
One of the main issues with rat bite fever is that it can take up to four weeks for symptoms to appear, making it difficult to diagnose and treat.
To avoid contracting rat-borne illnesses, it is advised by the Food and Drug Administration to dispose of any food suspected of coming into contact with rodents.
Viewers weigh in
The state of the potatoes concerned some viewers, who shared they’ve eaten potatoes with similar markings.
“We’ve all been eating rat potatoes for decades,” one commenter wrote.
“That’s how all Aldi sweet potatoes look,” another commenter wrote.
“Welp. We been eating rat scraps for years lmaooo,” a commenter wrote.
Others expressed interest in finding a way to unlearn this information. Others said there are simply some things they did not need to know.
“I should’ve just kept scrolling,” one commenter wrote.
“I got to stay off TikTok; some things I don’t need to know,” another commenter wrote.
“You know we could have DIED without knowing this right,” a commenter wrote.
@blueapplegreen I found an old video myself…omg… still informing people….. Rats and Potatoes!! be Aware People!! #rats #potatoes #fypシ #tik_tok ♬ original sound – I.Am.She.
The Daily Dot has reached out to via TikTok comment regarding the video.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
