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I don't mean to be squeamish about this, but I'm glad I'm not a fig eater. I know fig wasps are totally normal, but I assumed they'd be completely dissolved or at least unrecognisable. Finding not only recognisable wasps but also many other insects is a bit of a shock to me.

But the article says it's not uncommon to find insects in stored food. So what other insects have I been eating? My fruit consumption is mostly limited to bananas, apples, grapes, and the occasional strawberry or plum. I do know that fruit flies like a banana, and we've had enough drosophila infestations that I'm under no illusions about my accidental consumption of them.



If you are in the US, here is a Food and Drug Administration Food Defect Levels Handbook that gives the standard for contamination.

From the handbook:

> Chocolate and Chocolate Liquor

> Insect filth

> (AOAC 965.38)

> Average is 60 or more insect fragments per 100 grams when 6 100-gram subsamples are examined

> OR

> Any 1 subsample contains 90 or more insect fragments

> Macaroni and Noodle Products

> Insect filth

> (AOAC 969.41)

> Average of 225 insect fragments or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples

Source: https://www.fda.gov/food/ingredients-additives-gras-packagin...




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