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Posted on 06/08/2015 2:45:42 PM PDT by LucyT
Nobody wants to find insect parts, rat hairs, mouse poop or maggots in their food. But the Food and Drug Administration does allows low levels of these nasty things along with a bunch of other icky stuff to be present in food, or the ingredients that go into it.
In fact, the FDA considers such things to be "natural or unavoidable defects," and the agency maintains a "Defect Levels Handbook" to describe the acceptable levels.
[snip]
The FDA's handbook, which was released in 1995 and last updated in 2005, is a fun read. A person can find out acceptable levels of "foreign matter" allowed in food, which is FDA-speak for a group that includes "objectionable matter such as sticks, stones, burlap bagging, cigarette butts, etc." The listings also describe permissible limits for "insect filth," "rodent filth," "mammalian excreta," insect parts, flies, mold, rot, pits, sand and grit.
Chapman said he isn't worried about yuck factors. He is more concerned about foods that contain disease-causing organisms, such as Salmonella or E. coli. Such organisms result in an estimated 48 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States each year, according to the FDA.
"...although it's gross that canned tomatoes may average up to 10 fly eggs, the food isn't likely to make you sick. Nor is that half a cup of frozen spinach that might contain up to 50 teensy bugs and pests, including aphids, thrips or mites.
"if these things were harmful to consumers, they would have been regulated."
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
"if these things were harmful to consumers, they would have been regulated."
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It’s amazing we’ve lived as a species without the government to regulate everything.
Recycled story every ten years or so. So what? In the past humankind ate way nastier stuff and survived. Did you know anchovies are not gutted?
Note: flour should always be frozen for a few months before being thawed and then uses. This kills any insects or their eggs inside the flour bag.
It is not possible to remove ALL of such things from food, certainly not at a reasonable price. Natural foods WILL have natural contaminants in them.
Vegan rage commencing in 5...4...3...2...
In the real world, it’s unavoidable.
After all, which would you rather be, someone who eats a few little dead bug legs, or one of those bugs that gets eaten?
Anchovie filets are heavily salted and are wonderful on pizza. I love anchovies, roasted garlic, and tiny shrimp on my veggie pizza!
Been that way for a long long time. George Carlin had a routine about it in the early 70s. He predicted food would get advertised like cigarettes “fewer bug parts than the other leading brand”. Sadly that hasn’t come to pass yet.
Remember the Scene in one of the Back to the Future Movies when Marty is given a Glass of Water?
That was reality back then. People today have no idea how fortunate they are.
I always think of Steve McQueen’s character in Papillion chasing down the Roach in his Cell to eat it.
When you are hungry enough, you will eat anything.
Ditto sardines. We’re entirely too concerned with things we’ll never control. Concentrate on the active pathogens, cook your meat and take a chance.
When the label say: Flavoring
Well now you know!
We freeze flour, rice, powdered potatoes, etc. for a few days or so...works well to prevent hatching of critters in the food.
The fact is unless you grow your own and manage it from brith or life to death, you just neve know.
All these articles do is build hyteria.
The list goes all the way from a few mouse hairs in peanut butter, to Democrat politicians, who are 150 or so pound bags of offal, blood and shiat.
There are strict vegans.
There are vegetarians who aren’t vegans.
There are lacto-vegetarians, who will eat dairy products.
There are lacto-ovo vegetarians, who will eat eggs, along with dairy products.
There are lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarians, who will eat fish, as well as dairy and eggs.
And then there are lacto-ovo-pesco-steako-pork-chopo vegetarians.
That’s my kind, and I’m absolutely strict about it.
Does Facebook provide 55 categories of vegetarian to choose from to go with their 55 gender identifications?
Shrimp too!
The shrimp that go in your fried-rice Chinese takeout may yet have the alimentary canal still attached (with poop), unless it gets caught in the knife when the shrimp are originally diced.
I work at a sushi bar :-)
Ain’t nothin perfect in this old world.
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