"A Frog Without Hind Legs..." Shocked After Eating Salad at a Famous Restaurant Location

Italian Menu Seller 'Saijeriya'
Three Stores Found Last Month End
Headquarters Suspects "Mixed in Factory-Processed Lettuce"

In three branches of a famous family restaurant chain in Japan, there has recently been a series of incidents where customers found frogs in their food, causing a major controversy.

According to the Sankei Shimbun on the 3rd, at the family restaurant "Saizeriya," which mainly serves Italian cuisine, incidents occurred consecutively from the 18th to the 21st of last month where frogs were found in salads ordered by customers. The branches where the frogs were found include one in Tokyo and two in Kanagawa Prefecture, totaling three locations.

Saizeriya is the family restaurant chain with the largest number of outlets in Japan, operating 1,058 stores domestically as of May this year, and 483 stores in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Saizeriya, which markets itself as an affordable Italian restaurant, is characterized by its low prices of around 400 to 500 yen (approximately 3,600 to 4,500 won) per dish and a wide variety of menu options.

A woman who found a frog on the 21st of last month told Sankei Shimbun, "At the time, my family of three was eating shrimp salad and mozzarella salad we ordered, when a frog about 3 cm long with no right hind leg jumped out from the plate and crawled on the table." She added, "I felt unwell right after eating the salad and went to the hospital. I informed Saizeriya about the medical visit, but they did not stop the production line. This shows a disregard for food safety," expressing her anger.

Saizeriya believes that the frog likely got mixed in during the cutting process of lettuce at a factory in Kanagawa. This factory supplies a total of 740 stores in the Kanto, Tohoku, and Tokai regions.

On the 3rd, Saizeriya apologized for the incident through a notice on their official website. The company stated, "Since the 25th of last month, we have changed the process to peel lettuce leaves one by one and conduct thorough visual inspections," and added, "We will strengthen inspections and make efforts to prevent recurrence."

This is not the first time in Japan that a live frog has been found in food.

In May, a live frog was found in a takeout container from the large udon chain Marugame Seimen. The person who discovered it said, "I only noticed after almost finishing the udon," and posted a photo on the former Twitter (now 'X'), which became a big topic. At that time, Marugame Seimen judged that the frog was mixed in at the vegetable processing factory and temporarily suspended sales of the affected product, Shake Udon, at all stores nationwide.

Also, in May 2018, a frog carcass was found in a salad in a lunch box delivered to a customer from a branch of the family restaurant chain "Gusto."