NEW YORK — While many sports fanatics are betting on which team will win the World Series, at least 2,000 people are placing their bets on which vegetable the federal government will recall next.
BetUS.com, an online sportsbook, has given gamblers a chance to bet on which unlucky vegetable will be the next to come off the shelves after the government issued recalls on spinach and lettuce due to a strain of E. coli.
Analysts for BetUS.com placed odds on 10 different vegetables, including mushrooms, cauliflower, garlic, carrots, cucumbers, red cabbage, string beans, asparagus, squash and broccoli.
According to analysts, mushrooms will most likely be recalled next, with 6 to 1 odds, while garlic is the least likely, with odds of 20 to 1.
Approximately 2,000 people placed bets within the first 24 hours, said Christopher Bennett, public relations director for BetUS.com.
Analysts looked at factors such as a vegetable’s history and its beta carotene level when they came up with the odds.
The mushroom was given favorable odds since it is a fungus, and therefore, has a higher bacteria count, Bennett said.
“We call it ‘pop culture gaming,’” Bennett said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 12, 2006. Read the original PDF.