Is lettuce covered with a thin layer of plastic? Fact Check

Rumours and videos spreading online claim that many romaine lettuces (or lettuce in general) are being sold to the customer containing a thin layer of plastic on the side of the lettuce leaves.

In some of the videos, people can be seen boiling the lettuce and then peeling the “plastic” off.

Despite the popularity of these claims, they are entirely baseless.

Such “plastic salad” rumours have been spreading since at least 2012, and as is often the way with food themed scarelore it keeps resurfacing every year or so, as panicked consumers share the warnings without verification.

In this case, this online rumour is extremely easy to debunk, since the “plastic peeling” actually illustrates a very well-documented phenomenon known as “epidermal blistering” or “epidermal peeling”.

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Such a naturally occurring phenomenon happens when the lettuces are exposed to cold temperatures during the growing process. Such cold temperatures result in an extremely thin yet completely natural substance growing on the lettuce that acts as a protective layer.

Large amounts of romaine lettuce in particular is grown in Arizona, which frequently experiences very cold temperatures at night.

Needless to say, it isn’t plastic nor harmful, and it seems most of those claiming it is are doing so based only on the substance appearing similar to plastic. It’s Regardless of whether you peel the epidermal “skin” from the lettuce or not, it’s not dangerous or harmful in any way.

A video below shows the epidermal layer in a lettuce field in Yuma, Arizona, as a farmer explains how it is formed.