VIA: Thursday morning on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” Kelly Ripa talked about being grossed out by an article she found that said bugs are in virtually all the food we eat.
Humans have always eaten insects, either accidentally or on purpose, but the large amount of bugs fed to unsuspecting Americans is staggering.
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Spencer Michaels, reporting for the PBS News Hour, found that 80 percent of the world’s population eats insects as a regular part of their diet. He pointed out that of the 1.1 million species of insects that scientists have identified and named, 1,700 are edible. He said they contain lots of protein, hardly any fat and do not cause the types of illnesses caused by eating beef or pork.
But what about those of us who would never choose to eat an insect? Apparently, under Food and Drug Administration guidelines, we don’t really get to make that choice.
The FDA’s Food Defect Action Levels guidelines allows for certain levels of bugs and other contaminants in food, and the levels are largely based on aesthetics, since insects don’t generally pose a health risk.
The amount of insects eaten by consumers is likely lower than what the FDA allows. But for many people, the fact that there are allowable levels is a surprise.
Pasta may contain an average of 225 insect fragments.
A cup of raisins can have up to 33 fruit fly eggs.
Fig paste is allowed to have up to 13 insect heads in 100 grams.
Up to five fruit flies is allowed in an 8-ounce cup of canned fruit juice.
One maggot is allowed in every 250 milliliters of fruit.
Up to 2,500 aphids are allowed in every 10 grams of hops.
Spinach can have up to 50 aphids, thrips or mites per 100 grams.
Broccoli can contain insects fragments and even whole insects.
Up to a kilogram of insect parts is allowed in 100 kilograms of chocolate.
Up to 19 maggots and 74 mites are allowed in a 3.5-ounce can of mushrooms.
Up to 15 fruit fly eggs are allowed in 100 grams of tomato sauce.
More than 40 thrips are allowed in 100 grams of asparagus.
Hops used in brewing beer can contain more than 2,500 aphids in 10 grams.
Americans eat, on average, “two pounds of flies, maggots and other bugs each year,” according to a Scientific American blog.