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In April 2018, videos appeared purporting to show evidence of the toxicity of store-bought foods by peeling a layer of what appears to be plastic off leaves of lettuce. The claims have periodically resurfaced online for years: Although the video has been shared and seen by tens of thousands of people on social media, it doesn't, in fact, depict plastic peeling off lettuce leaves. Instead it shows evidence of a known agricultural phenomenon called epidermal peeling — a harmless side effect of cold weather. Much like a skin blister, epidermal peeling occurs when romaine lettuce, a majority of which is grown in Arizona, is exposed to freezing temperatures causing the leaves form a protective layer, which can then be peeled off. A farmer in Yuma, Arizona explains the process here: The claims were likely re-ignited on social media by people searching out more information after major warnings appeared in mid-April 2018 about romaine lettuce that had been contaminated with E. coli.
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