Jump to content

What are you really eating??


Texsox

Recommended Posts

In the past year, you have eaten up to:

- 11 insect larvae

- 27 whole insects (or insect parts)

- 235 fly eggs

- 47 maggots

- 225 rat hairs

- 2057 mites

- a can or two of 'honey-combed tissue' in your tuna (whatever the hell that means).

I really needed to know that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to bad this is a prank http://www.zug.com/pranks/eating/

FDA Link, More at Site

 

Actually the FDA does allow acceptable limits of these types of items in your food. The calculator may be off and not set to the exact FDA levels, but make no mistake you are eating rodent and insect parts.

 

FDA establishes food defect action levels (DALs) for various food products   

and various types of insects. For instance, the permissible level of certain 

insect fragments in 50 grams, or about two cups, of flour is 75 parts. (This 

is the uppermost level at which fragments pose no health hazard in the       

product.)

 

According to Paris Brickey, chief of the microanalytical branch, division of 

microbiology, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Washington,   

D.C., insect fragments may be unavoidable in foods grown outside, exposed to 

a certain amount of insect contamination.

 

Brickey says that the amount of insect fragments permitted by the DALs is 

not only harmless, but "unavoidable to a certain degree. If weevils attack   

wheat in the field and breed in the kernels, they aren't always removed when 

the wheat is cleaned, so they get ground up into the product. That's         

unavoidable."

 

But there are times when a product is considered contaminated even if the 

number of insect fragments it contains falls below the DAL. "Certain         

fragments come from what we classify as filth insects--such as certain types 

of flies," Brickey explains. "They inhabit filthy areas, often feeding on 

garbage. Some feed on sores and cuts. They can carry microorganisms. We're   

not held by defect action levels with these. We'll take action."

 

When there's an unsanitary practice involved, "we look at it on a         

case-by-case basis without reference to the numbers," says Brickey. In such

cases, FDA scientists evaluate the type of insects as well as the size of 

the insect fragments.

 

"In a milled product, this may indicate whether the insects were of       

post-milling or pre-milling origin. If they were in the wheat before it was

milled and were ground up with the flour, that's one thing. If they got into 

the flour after it was milled, there was probably an unsanitary condition,"

says Brickey.

 

The alternative to permissible insect fragment levels, according to Brickey, 

would be "food so expensive nobody could afford it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...