Do you freak out if you find an insect or insect parts in your packaged foods?
Asked by
Coloma (
47193
)
July 27th, 2016
I was enjoying my morning bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios when I spied a little mummified moth stuck to one of the O’s. Not so cheery of a discovery but I took it in stride.
I did not see any others, and know this moth came right out of the box as it is brand new and there are no moths in my cupboards, along with the fact the moth was glued to the Cheerio. Must have gone through the Honey Nut glazing process. haha
I expect a certain amount of insects and insect parts to be in processed foods whether or not I actually see them and am not the type to complain to the manufacturer. If I found glass shards or other foreign debris yes, the occasional bug, no. What about you?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
49 Answers
I can’t say that’s ever happened to me.
@Darth_Algar Not that you’re aware of anyway. haha
I have found a beetle in a can of Campbels Bean with Bacon soup, worms in the bottom of waffle style ice cream cones, meal worms in cornbread mix and have also been served some bugs in restaurant food. A colorful green striped beetle in some Thai food once and a lovely, fat, cockroach in chinese take out.
I found a fried and crispy cricket in a bag of corn chips one time. It was a bit off-putting, but I ate the rest of the bag.
@Coloma “Not that you’re aware of anyway.”
Obviously. But if I’m unaware then I can’t say that it happened.
You got a brand new moth? If only there were one in every box!
It’s always a bit disturbing to see malfunctions even in industrial food. I have had cans of industrial soup which had slag in them. I called the company and they said it happened sometimes, asked for the batch number, and send me generous coupons for more. It took me a while before I wanted to use the coupons, but I did.
I also have never discovered anything like that.
@zenvelo Wow, corn chip crickets. haha
@Darth_Algar Well, if you’re going to split insect hairs, true.
@Zaku Haha, Hey kiddies, a real moth mummy in every box. What do you mean by “slag”?
@anniereborn I’m surprised, I expected more stories of hidden bugs, but, the question is still young. Maybe I am just extra observant, I dunno. :-p
Not a very big deal but I might let the company know so they can investigate. It isn’t in anyone’s interest that this sort of thing happens.
Freak? I go into a frenzy and I wonder what else goes on that isn’t visible? If only we knew what happens in food factories, bakeries, restaurants and in the food industry on the whole!
@flutherother Well, in this case I think it is nearly impossible to avoid a few grain moths in grain products. They are very stealthy and I have had them hatch out in bags of animal feed and in my pantry on occasion. The little moth eggs are invisible and so not much can be done if they are present in the flour or meal used I think. I don’t know how factories treat bug issues surrounding their food products.
Obviously most grains are treated with pesticides during the growing process but it doesn’t kill every little critter.
The grain moth eggs come from the grain at the mill. Anything super disgusting like a chopped up mouse, yeah, I’d report that. haha
@ZEPHYRA Haha, well, don’t make yourself insane, we’re all still alive and surely we have consumed many stow away critters in our food. Blatantly dirty restaurants and other things aside, of course.
I used to find various bugs and larvae in foods, but the last 25 years or so, that has subsided, except with fresh vegetables and fruits.
@Coloma I have read they are completely harmless if swallowed which can’t be said of pesticides.
Unless I find half a rat, I’m not bothered.
Actually there are several videos of these little Pacific tree frogs that people have found in their CA. Costco greens. haha
They are everywhere here and it makes sense they might get scooped up in the fields now and then.
I was drinking a sweet drink outside today and in my last swig I found I had something odd and crispy in my mouth. I spat it out as soon as I realised but it was too late. Bastard bit me twice on the tongue and once on the inner cheek.
@cazzie What was “it”? A bee, wasp, ant?
I’ve scooped dead moth parts off the top of the water when I was boiling pasta before.
I won’t use a powdered mix if I find anything unusual in it.
I worked in a food factory for 20 years, and I do know how they handle bugs.
#1, they have positive air pressure, meaning they pump clean, filtered air into the building so that nothing is sucked in or pushed in on a breeze.
There are large, industrial insecticutors by every entrance to the building and room which are cleaned and monitored by QA.
There are pheromone bait traps for the most hazardous insects throughout the building warehouse area that are monitored by QA or an outside contractor.
If there is an insect infestation, the entire building is shut down and fumigated. Then there is a thorough sanitizing. 2–3 days of downtime. Serious business in a facility that runs 24/7, like the one I worked in often did.
Bugs like a beetle or cricket are more understandable to me than a moth. The defenses are aimed at the meal moth, tobacco beetle, etc. The odd beetle or cricket might have fallen from the ceiling or jumped from a wooden pallet. But they freak out over moths in a meal facility.
I had a green lacewing bug crawl out of my salad from Panera, once. I freaked and threw the salad out.
One time in college my friend Louella and I went to a kegger yard party. It was dark. Suddenly the very proper Louella start spewing and spitting and gacking and squealing. A june bug/beetle had landed in her beer and when she took a drink the little bastage attached itself to the roof of her mouth, and she couldn’t get it loose!!
Good times, @cazzie.
:-)
I usually find hair in my food. Unfortunately, not my hair.
I drank a beer that turned out to have a big roach in it, but it must have crawled into the beer, not just been there.
Insects are everywhere. Just eat them, or spit them out.
I’m not squeamish about hair. How much dirt could have been on it?
I especially like the parasites accompanied by “pus pockets” in the Red Fish & Ocean Perch. Mmmm good! lol
Not really. One time, not long aftwr my oldest moved out, she came busting in the house starving! She grabbed some cereal, poured a bowl, put milk on it and started chowing down. She’d eaten most of it when she saw something moving in the milk that was left….yeah. the cereal was old! She screamed but didn’t throw up and she survived too. (I never laughed so hard!!)
@ibstubro You don’t mind finding a hair in your food? Gah..I’ll take the Honey Glazed Moth over a hair, any day of the week.
@Dutchess_III Haha..Oops!
No, I don’t freak in the least over hair, @Coloma.
I’ve called a manager over, given him an FYI, and finished my meal.
Better if I find it in the food, not in my mouth.
Really. What’s a hair going to do other than annoy?
@Dutchess_III It’s going to make me gag and feel disturbed for awhile. shiver
That is just a lack of cleanliness at the factory. Federal standards allow a certain number of insect fragments, and we have not had an epidemic for a while, so there is no reason for a manufacturer to worry about it. If you were to go looking for a healthy food store, one of the most reliable signs of healthy food is that the store has an insect problem. I was horrified by the blue mold on the cheese until I learned that some people won’t buy cheese if it’s not moldy.
Personally, I won’t touch packaged cereals. I buy whole grains and put a bay leaf in the bag to kill the bug eggs.
@SmartAZ Pantry/grain moths are everywhere, they hatch out on bags of animal feed, and all sorts of grain products. The eggs are on the grain and milled into the flour before it ever becomes processed into foods. Bay Leaves might help but you’re still eating bug eggs even if they don’t hatch into larvae and then become moths. How can you say it is a lack of cleanliness at the factory for a natural, grain eating moth to be in my Cheerios yet say that insects are a reliable sign of healthy food stores?
That sounds like an oxymoron to me. haha
@Coloma Yes, I grant that it sounds odd, but if you study history, such as the story of Joseph in the bible, you learn that no such problem occurred in granaries because they kept the place clean. But stores are not storage, they display the food openly. If the food is not healthy it does not attract bugs.
The Bible: – “no such problem occurred in granaries because they kept the place clean”
LOL
BS
@ibstubro You have lousy manners. Work on that, ok?
watch it, @ibstubro, there are no bananas in the bible.
@ibstubro Hah! “Trumpery” now that’s got a lot of meaning behind it right about now I’d say. lol
Are Bananas the forbidden fruit?
And Jesus said, “Yes! We have no bananas.” Fishiens 7:45.
Of course the grain carried the moth eggs back in the Biblical days @SmartAZ! The eggs don’t come from the granaries. They come in on the grain.
I had a Christian friend once tell me that cancer in humans is a new thing. They didn’t have cancer in Biblical times. I said, “Of course they did! They just used different names to describe the problem.”
….and God didn’t make little green apples. lol
And it don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.
And I’ve been through a desert on a horse with no name.
Haha I’m pretty sure Bananas would be the forbidden fruit, being so phallic in nature I am sure the men of the bible didn’t want any big bananas anywhere near their women. I bet @ HypocrisyCentral forbids bananas in his house. lol
banality – any joke about a banana
“I bet @ HypocrisyCentral forbids bananas in his house. lol” :D! He probably does!
According to evangelist Ray Comfort and teen heartthrob-turned-Jesus freak Kirk Cameron, the banana, being well suited to grip in one’s hand and curving toward the mouth, is an example of God’s perfect design*. God wants us to have elongated objects that are easy to grip and put in our mouths.
(*Of course Ray and Kirk ignore the fact that our common banana, the Cavendish, is the result of careful cultivation by humans, has only existed with the last couple of centuries, and did not appear naturally.)
God wants women to have curved Bananas to hit the G-spot. Once you have had curve you never go back to ramrod straight. lol
@Call_Me_Jay Hah! Wow, it sure blends in perfectly, glad it didn’t blend in perfectly with your Pesto. Great picture, Nat. Geo. quality. maybe you should do a documentary on the secret life of Katydids. You’ll have to get David Attenborough to narrate. lol
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
