BERLIN: A customer shopping at a discount supermarket found stems of a poisonous weed in mixed salad bags.
Traces of senecio vulgaris or common groundsel, that can cause extensive liver damage if ingested in large amounts, were discovered by a customer with a specialized knowledge of plants.
The store immediately took all affected bags off the shelves.
Samples were sent to the University of Bonn for testing, which detected more than 2,500 micrograms of poison and that is 2,500 times more than the acceptable allowance -- in 150 grams of salad.
Minister for consumer protectionism in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Margit Conrad, warned shoppers to be vigilant.
"Not everything that looks like fruit and vegetable is edible," she said in a statement on Wednesday.
"No one should eat plants or parts of plants that have an unusual taste."
Minister for consumer protectionism in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Margit Conrad, warned shoppers to be vigilant.
"Not everything that looks like fruit and vegetable is edible," she said in a statement on Wednesday.
"No one should eat plants or parts of plants that have an unusual taste."
