Bugs in Our Food?

on February 13, 2009 at 1:00 PM

Here's some breaking food news I really wish I hadn't stumbled upon...An article in the New York Times reports that the average person unknowingly ingests one to two pounds of flies, maggots, and mites each year. Ew! Gross!

Controversy over the recent peanut butter salmonella scare has everyone paranoid about food contamination. This panic was heightened when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation of the Georgia peanut company responsible for the scare also turned up evidence that the plant was infested with mold and roaches. But apparently a certain amount of incests and other "undesirable" material (I'll, ahem, just let you use your imagination) in certain foods is permitted by the FDA. In fact, the FDA has published a booklet detailing the exact levels of "defects" that are permitted in foods from tomato juice to canned mushrooms, from sauerkraut to, yes, even peanut butter.

I was upset when I heard that the average person swallows four spiders in their sleep per year, but this new information is taking bug ingestion to a whole new level! And I object to the use of the "defects" euphemism. Bug parts and mold should be termed something much more alarmist.

Is anyone with me?

About the author Kim Conte

has shoes that make people stop her on the street and ask "Where did you get those?" but it doesn't work for taxi cabs as she was hit by one ... and lived to tell the tale. She has more freckles than Lohan but way less attitude. And she's a fierce cook with tons of recipes to share -- and wishes she could share some with Bourdain.

Filed Under: food, food safety, trends

Comments (19)

Aniyunwiya

on Feb 13, 2009 at 1:58 PM

Not surpising, I mean they spray bug stuff on our food, the sprays can't get everything.

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jsmjboertlein

on Feb 13, 2009 at 2:04 PM

mmmmmmmm proooootien

peppermintmocha

on Feb 13, 2009 at 2:17 PM

*gag* When I was a kid I read that there are usually 4 ladybugs per package of fig newtons. I didnt' care then, but sure as hell can't eat them now.

RanaAurora

on Feb 13, 2009 at 2:25 PM

Mold should not be okay. There are plenty of people with severe allergies to mold.

Honestly, unless it's on the ingredients, it shouldn't be in your food.

ashleehoward

on Feb 13, 2009 at 2:26 PM

bleh,lol...I don't care to know,I'll just eat the bugs unknowingly...and peppermintmocha,poor lady bugs :( lol

Plus people in different countries like to eat bugs,fried,covered in chocolate,in hard candies..yum! haha In Mexico I have seen lollipops with worms in them,the kind you get in a tiquila bottle

RNMOMO4

on Feb 13, 2009 at 3:54 PM

UNKNOWINGLY being the key word here. Let's keep it that way!!!

paula405

on Feb 13, 2009 at 4:13 PM

Seriously if we knew what happend in manufactring plants or how old our food is before we actually get it we would never eat.

That produce isn't fresh let's say you live in Maine and those avocados are from california they get picked, sit at the farm a day, get sent to a warehouse, get bought by a company, then sent across country in a truck, probably sit in another warehouse andthen finally gets sent to a store by the time we get it it's not that fresh anymore.

There should be stricter laws about what is acceptable. It grosses me out to know that so many things are unsafe.

chudyschick1251

on Feb 13, 2009 at 4:25 PM

OMG!!! throwing up

sunmoonstars

on Feb 13, 2009 at 6:04 PM

Can you link to this page you are referring to? I'd like to see more:

In fact, the FDA has published a booklet detailing the exact levels of "defects" that are permitted in foods from tomato juice to canned mushrooms, from sauerkraut to, yes, even peanut butter.