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Insect larvae on salad leaves
Posted by helen
Insect larvae on salad leaves March 23, 2017 08:44PM |
Admin Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 7,920 |
If you were to buy a sealed bag of commercial salad greens to find some insect eggs on a leaf would you be upset?
The eggs are small and most definitely not from flies but more like from white butterfly or something else.
While I would very likely throw out the offending leaf I think I don't think I would see it as any more serious than that.
I ask as know someone that this has happened to and she is planning to complain to her supermarket.
Everything that I pick up of my garden has to be checked for wild life, isn't that just nature?
Your thoughts?
The eggs are small and most definitely not from flies but more like from white butterfly or something else.
While I would very likely throw out the offending leaf I think I don't think I would see it as any more serious than that.
I ask as know someone that this has happened to and she is planning to complain to her supermarket.
Everything that I pick up of my garden has to be checked for wild life, isn't that just nature?
Your thoughts?
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 23, 2017 10:33PM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 3,660 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 23, 2017 10:42PM |
Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 799 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 24, 2017 03:03AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 2,228 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 24, 2017 04:13AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 5,699 |
No, it wouldn't upset me.
I agree, it is just nature. I often pick rocket and from the garden to find some leaves with white butterfly eggs laid on them or even a caterpillar. However, I do think that some people, maybe with no gardening knowledge, could be very upset as they are possibly expecting the quality of the sealed and bagged greens to be in pristine condition with 'no unwanted attachments' and a product to be used straight from the bag without any form of scruitiny (or washing). Just my thoughts.
Regards,
Dawn.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2017 06:40AM by Dawn.
I agree, it is just nature. I often pick rocket and from the garden to find some leaves with white butterfly eggs laid on them or even a caterpillar. However, I do think that some people, maybe with no gardening knowledge, could be very upset as they are possibly expecting the quality of the sealed and bagged greens to be in pristine condition with 'no unwanted attachments' and a product to be used straight from the bag without any form of scruitiny (or washing). Just my thoughts.
Regards,
Dawn.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2017 06:40AM by Dawn.
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 24, 2017 06:19AM |
Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 1,979 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 24, 2017 06:36AM |
Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 622 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 24, 2017 08:52AM |
Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 1,979 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 24, 2017 09:38PM |
Admin Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 7,844 |
I saw something on TV the other day and I think it was possibly an ad for an upcoming programme about commercially prepared food, and the main gist was that we unwittingly eat around 1kg of insects, bugs and grubs when consuming canned foods, pickles and chutneys, etc, etc. However, it's one thing to eat already cooked and unrecognisable 'things' without even knowing it and quite another to see the 'live' evidence in our fresh food. At least, you have the opportunity of removing the live wild-life from your pre-packaged salad leaves. No problem!
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 24, 2017 11:40PM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 3,660 |
Yes, it was a Fair Go programme where Indian mealmoths were found in all stages (eggs, larvae/caterpillar, and moth) in a box of English stuffing mix by a family in NZ. Normally the stuffing would get eaten while the eggs were unhatched, with consumers being blissfully unaware, but of course the longer it's stored the more likely things start hatching....
Once I found a forgotten and unopened packet of nut chocolate in a relative's cupboard and trapped inside the cellophane wrapping were lots of little winged insects - obviously hatched out of the nuts at some point...
I found this enlightening (and funny ) when I came aross it several years ago:
[www.fda.gov]
It's the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) establishing "maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods for human use that present no health hazard". Some examples from it:
Ground allspice's action level is an average of 30 or more insect fragments per 10 grams ("insect filth" ) and an average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 10 grams ("rodent filth" ). The significance of this is classified as Aesthetic only.
Frozen Brussels sprouts - Average of 30 or more aphids and/or thrips per 100 grams (significance - aesthetic).
Canned citrus fruit juices - Average mold count is 10% or more. 5 or more Drosophila and other fly eggs per 250 ml or 1 or more maggots per 250 ml (Significance: Aesthetic).
Fig paste - Contains 13 or more insect heads per 100 grams of fig paste in each of 2 or more subsamples (Significance: Aesthetic)
Blue fin and other freshwater herring - 60 parasitic cysts per 100 fish (fish averaging 1 pound or less) or 100 pounds of fish averaging over 1 pound), provided that 20% of the fish examined are infested (Significance: Aesthetic)
Macaroni and noodle products - Average of 225 insect fragments or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples. Average of 4.5 rodent hairs or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples. Significance: Aesthetic.
Mushrooms, canned and dried - Average of over 20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms OR Average of 5 or more maggots 2 mm or longer per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms. Average of 75 mites per 100 grams drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms. Average of more than 10% of mushrooms are decomposed. Significance: Aesthetic
Potato chips - Average of 6% or more pieces by weight contain rot. Significance: Aesthetic.
Etc.
Once I found a forgotten and unopened packet of nut chocolate in a relative's cupboard and trapped inside the cellophane wrapping were lots of little winged insects - obviously hatched out of the nuts at some point...
I found this enlightening (and funny ) when I came aross it several years ago:
[www.fda.gov]
It's the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) establishing "maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods for human use that present no health hazard". Some examples from it:
Ground allspice's action level is an average of 30 or more insect fragments per 10 grams ("insect filth" ) and an average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 10 grams ("rodent filth" ). The significance of this is classified as Aesthetic only.
Frozen Brussels sprouts - Average of 30 or more aphids and/or thrips per 100 grams (significance - aesthetic).
Canned citrus fruit juices - Average mold count is 10% or more. 5 or more Drosophila and other fly eggs per 250 ml or 1 or more maggots per 250 ml (Significance: Aesthetic).
Fig paste - Contains 13 or more insect heads per 100 grams of fig paste in each of 2 or more subsamples (Significance: Aesthetic)
Blue fin and other freshwater herring - 60 parasitic cysts per 100 fish (fish averaging 1 pound or less) or 100 pounds of fish averaging over 1 pound), provided that 20% of the fish examined are infested (Significance: Aesthetic)
Macaroni and noodle products - Average of 225 insect fragments or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples. Average of 4.5 rodent hairs or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples. Significance: Aesthetic.
Mushrooms, canned and dried - Average of over 20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms OR Average of 5 or more maggots 2 mm or longer per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms. Average of 75 mites per 100 grams drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms. Average of more than 10% of mushrooms are decomposed. Significance: Aesthetic
Potato chips - Average of 6% or more pieces by weight contain rot. Significance: Aesthetic.
Etc.
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 25, 2017 02:58AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 2,228 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 25, 2017 04:53AM |
Registered: 16 years ago Posts: 1,979 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 25, 2017 06:21AM |
Registered: 12 years ago Posts: 3,422 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves March 25, 2017 01:40PM |
Registered: 15 years ago Posts: 653 |
I must admit I would be freaked by insect eggs on my salad. Although I've intentionally eaten insects on a trip to Mexico (ant eggs are delicious, as are crickets), there's a difference between that and them being where you weren't expecting them, especially when they're labelled as washed. I wouldn't complain to my supermarket, but it would put me off bagged salad for a while.
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves April 09, 2017 03:25AM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 2,155 |
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves April 11, 2017 07:45AM |
Admin Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 7,920 |
A few years ago I was at dinner at a friends house and as I was serving myself salad a huge snail poked his head out at me. I got such a fright that i let out a little shriek. It just startled me but did cause some cross words between husband and wife as she had neglected to wash the rocket leaves that he had picked.
Re: Insect larvae on salad leaves April 16, 2017 11:35PM |
Registered: 7 years ago Posts: 804 |
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