“This Is Scary”: Johannesburg Woman Reconsiders Woolies Food After Realising Lettuce Doesn’t Rot

• A Johannesburg content creator shared a viral video questioning why her month-old Woolworths lettuce still looks fresh and crunchy
• The TikTok user @phindilemakhasi admitted she's a huge Woolies fan but now wonders what's really in the food
• South Africans debated in the comments whether extended shelf life comes from better storage methods or added chemicals

A Johannesburg woman has got Mzansi talking after sharing her concerns about Woolworths food that refuses to go bad. TikTok user @phindilemakhasi, who has 22,000 followers, posted a video on 14 June with the caption:

"Mmmm @siyamangena you're right - this is SCARY 💔"

The video starts with a gentleman discussing Woolworths food quality before @phindilemakhasi shares her own experience. The man in the clip says:

"Listen Woolies doesn't sell fresh food, they only know how to make it look fresher."

The woman then explains that she's also a huge Woolworths fan who buys everything there, including her son's clothes. But after hearing the gentleman's concerns, she realised her own lettuce had been sitting in her fridge for over a month and still looked completely fresh with its original crunch. She sated:

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"Listen, I'm a Woolies girl down to the core, and that's the only place I shop for my groceries. That said, this lettuce was bought on the 16th of May, yesterday was the 13th of June, that's three days short of a month, and the lettuce is still sparkling green."

This worried her because lettuce from other stores usually goes off within a week or two.

Mzansi weighs in on fresh debate

The video sparked heated discussions in the comment section, with South Africans sharing different theories about why Woolworths food lasts longer.

@Shelaine Batohi explained:

"Woolies food stays fresher for longer, not because they do anything funny to the food. They have a strict cold chain from the farm. Which means from the farm, they keep it refrigerated and cold, unlike other places. This means that bacteria have less chance of growing and keep it fresher for longer."

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@amanda_mrobo🇿🇦 pointed out:

"Woolies doesn't sell organic. Organic food is supposed to mould quickly."

@Nozi shared her knowledge:

"In my microbiology class, my lecturer would say that if it doesn't spoil, then even the bacteria and fungi don't want it. It is definitely not good for you either. I'm convinced these vegetables that don't spoil aren't organic."

@Yolandaaa🥷 joked:

"This is my sign to buy fruit and veggies from Food Lovers, even though they go off the moment I walk out of the store."

@Sisonke offered technical insight:

"The reason why it still looks fresh is because they use something called MAP ( Modified Atmosphere Packaging). It is a process where the air of a product is replaced with a certain gas, for instance, Carbon dioxide or oxygen, and this process helps prevent oxidation and helps maintain the freshness of the food."

@roeliendt added:

"My husband works at a pack house that packs Nartjies for Woolworths. It's the same quality food as the one that gets exported. The top of the top. The quality that gets sent to Checkers, Spar and so on is not the same. It's the private school fruits and vegetables!😂"

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The science behind vegetable shelf-life

According to ScienceDirect, lettuce is naturally a highly perishable product that's sensitive to many factors that cause it to go bad quickly. The main problems include wilting, colour changes, and tissue breakdown that happen when lettuce is cut or stored improperly.

Research shows that several methods can extend lettuce shelf life significantly. These include keeping strict cold chain storage from farm to store, using modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) where normal air gets replaced with special gases, and careful handling during transport and processing.

The studies explain that proper refrigeration prevents bacteria growth, while MAP technology can slow down the natural processes that make vegetables spoil. Some varieties of lettuce are also bred specifically to last longer on shelves.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

Other stories about Woolworths

• Briefly News recently reported on a woman's R7,000 monthly grocery haul that included multiple stores, but what she revealed about her Woolworths spending had people questioning their own shopping choices.
• A Cape Town woman discovered something unexpected printed on her Woolworths doughnuts that made her wonder about the store's "local" reputation and premium prices.
• Another shopper went viral after showing off Woolworths' new kitchenware collection, but the prices she revealed left South Africans with mixed feelings about splurging on home items.

Source: Briefly News