If so, you’ll dig this. (Not really.)
We spend countless amounts of time and money trying to keep bugs and other critters out of our homes. But did you know that it’s legally OK for manufacturers to allow bugs and, well, other things to hang out in your food?
Yep. It’s true. Creepy, crawly, wormy critters and other adventurous finds can legally infest our foods in small quantities. And apparently, that’s just fine with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Gross.
You see, the FDA has a nifty little manual called the Defect Levels Handbook. And it’s meant “to establish maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods for human use that present no health hazard.”
This neat little handbook defines some pretty tasty options. Maggots, rat hair and even mold can be found in the mix. These minor inconveniences are referred to as “Food Defect Action Levels.” And you’re not going to believe what this fancy phrase means. Food Defect Action Levels are the amount of bugs and whatnot (yes, whatnot) allowed in foods. Apparently, a little is OK. But a lot is forbidden.
Want to hear more? We thought so.
Let’s start with frozen broccoli. If a casserole with frozen broccoli sounds fabulous, you’d better love critters. That’s because frozen broccoli is by law allowed to contain no more than an “average of 60 or more aphids and/or thrips and/or mites per 100 grams.” The key phrase here is “no more than.” In other words, 59 or less can go in without any red flags.
We all love a little ground paprika in our deviled eggs. But did you know that ground paprika can legally have creepy, crawly critters in it?
It’s a fact, according to the FDA. Ground paprika can contain no more than an average of 75 insect fragments per 25 grams. And if that’s not disturbing enough, rodents are fine, too. In fact, ground paprika can contain 10 rodent hairs. But no more than 11 per 25 grams.
Good to know.
How about chocolate? Well, fret not. They’ve got that covered too – covered with bugs, that is. But don’t worry, you won’t get too many. According to the FDA, the “average is 60 or more insect fragments per 100 grams when six 100-gram subsamples are examined.” However, the good news is this: When it comes to rodent hairs, the number is pleasantly limited. There can be no more than one per 100 grams.
Nice! But it gets better. If you love canned corn, you might not anymore. Did you know that canned corn can contain insect larvae, cast skins, larval or cast skin fragments of corn ear worms?
And let’s not forget about noodles. Noodles can contain no more than an average of 225 insect fragments or more per 225 grams in six or more subsamples. Rodent filth is included, too. That’s because noodles can contain no more than an average of 4.5 rodent hairs or more per 225 grams in six or more subsamples.
Infestation is defined as “the presence of any live or dead life cycle stages of insects in a host product, (e.g., weevils in pecans, fly eggs and maggots in tomato products); or evidence of their presence (i.e., excreta, cast skins, chewed product residues, urine, etc.); or the establishment of an active breeding population, (e.g., rodents in a grain silo).”
Yummy! All kidding aside, the FDA says that the defect levels are not representative of the defects that occur in all products -- the averages are actually much lower. In other words, they’re just trying to keep it real. After all, it’s pretty hard to control nature. And there is another way to look at this reality. While rodents are just plain disgusting, maybe bugs aren’t so bad.
There are many cultures throughout history who have dined on bugs -- even as a delicacy. In fact, The Wall Street Journal says that bugs may be a thing of the future. Restaurants in London and New York even offer tasty options with bugs as the staple.
“Insects are high in protein, B vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc, and they're low in fat. Insects are easier to raise than livestock, and they produce less waste," according to The Wall Street Journal.
In truth, experts say that many nations have partaken in bug delights throughout history. “In Laos and Thailand, weaver-ant pupae are a highly prized and nutritious delicacy. They are prepared with shallots, lettuce, chilies, lime and spices and served with sticky rice. Further back in history, the ancient Romans considered beetle larvae to be gourmet fare, and the Old Testament mentions eating crickets and grasshoppers. In the 20th century, the Japanese emperor Hirohito's favorite meal was a mixture of cooked rice, canned wasps (including larvae, pupae and adults), soy sauce and sugar.”
Here's something that might remove the sting of that description. Experts also say that there are many benefits of eating bugs. For starters, they’re safer than animals. Shockingly, less than 0.5% of all known insect species are harmful to people, farm animals or crop plants. Further, bugs just may be the answer to the population rise on the horizon. That’s because they’re easier to raise than animals. And they’re rich in protein.
“Raising insects for food would avoid many of the problems associated with livestock. For instance, swine and humans are similar enough that they can share many diseases. Such co-infection can yield new disease strains that are lethal to humans, as happened during a swine fever outbreak in the Netherlands in the late 1990s. Because insects are so different from us, such risks are accordingly lower,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Insects are much easier to raise than livestock. They require less feed and produce less waste – only 20 percent of a cricket is inedible, compared with up to 65 percent unusable parts in lamb and 45 percent for beef.
Who knows what the future will hold? Perhaps we will all be dining on insect delights. Until then, let’s just try not to think about the bugs that are legally hanging out in our foods.