gulp. you have probably eaten hundreds of maggots
3 minute read
strawberries
stay up to date on this topic
a tiktok video has gone viral after showing tiny worms coming out of strawberries once they’re washed with saltwater. other people have been picking up the trend to see if it actually works by washing their strawberries for 30 mins to find little worms emerging afterwards. believe it or not, it’s actually more normal than you think.
strawberry and small fruit crop entomologist sriyanka lahiri, phd, an assistant professor at the university of florida, told health that the worms are actually the maggots of a fly that’s called the spotted wing drosophila (swd). “it’s an invasive species from east asia that infests berry crops and has been in the usa since 2008,†said lahiri.
what’s unique about the swd fly compared to the common fruit fly is that it can lay its eggs inside undamaged berry fruits (like strawberries, raspberries etc.) with its serrated egg laying device (known as an ovipositor). the female swd fly lays her eggs inside the ripe fruit, and the maggots hatch while continuing to feed inside the fruit, according to lahiri.
“the maggots go largely undetected during harvest. since common fruit flies can only lay their eggs in softening, damaged, or rotting fruit, the maggots hitchhiking inside fresh-looking fruit definitely belong to the swd species,†she said. lahiri added that the swd fly gravitates towards yeast and sugar water solution, which is often used to monitor berry production.
most berries can be attractive for swd flies to lay their eggs, but this doesn’t mean all are.
“there are several other pests, such as thrips, mites, aphids, and armyworms, that cause damage to strawberry plants and fruits,” lahiri told health. “if all of these pests are intensively managed, no type of infestation should be a major issue.â€
nothing can be done once the swd eggs have been laid inside the fruit, so management focuses on monitoring and preventive control tactics to wave off adult flies. “the goal is to not let the females lay eggs on the fruit,†said lahiri.
sponsored by:
aquaomega
advertisement
like many experts, she recommends washing all fruits and vegetables (strawberries included) before eating them. but it’s important to note that these maggots live deep inside the fruit, so washing them doesn’t get rid of all the bugs. lahiri notes that leaving the strawberries in water may make a few come out, but not all of them. she wasn’t aware about any benefits with saltwater to coax bugs out (as demonstrated on tiktok), and added that she wasn’t sure whether the berries would taste the same after staying in saltwater for a period of time.
at the end of the day, having a few bugs in your fruit or vegetables hasn’t been known to have any negative effects. “although the sight of translucent worms crawling out of a fresh strawberry fruit might not be appealing, there are no known ill effects of eating them,†lahiri said. “in fact, if you accidentally consumed some maggots, all you did was get some extra animal protein in your salad or fruit shake.â€
insect infestation to a degree can be impossible to get rid of for most vegetable and fruit producers. even the food and drug administration has contamination guidelines citing how many bugs are allowed to be inside foods.
“we would need an insane amount of pesticides to follow a zero maggot/grub tolerance policy in our food, which is neither environmentally friendly nor beneficial for human health,†lahiri said. “having pesticide residue on our food versus having to ingest some extra animal protein can be considered as a fair trade-off.â€
jordan heuvelmans is a freelance journalist with healthing.ca. you can follow her on twitter at @jordanheuvelm
don’t miss the latest on covid-19, reopening and life. subscribe to healthing’s daily newsletter covid life
share story
sponsored by:
canadian society for exercise physiology
