As Halloween approaches I thought I would have the next two posts fit into the Halloween spirit. These next two posts will indeed offer creepy information about foods that you may eat quite regularly and may even shock you beyond your wits. I, of course speak about FDA food defects regulations.
The FDA has created the "Food Defect Action Levels" with goal of "establishing maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects in human foods for human use that present no health hazard". Makes sense right? Well what falls into the natural or unavoidable defects may terrorize you the next time you sit down for dinner. The thought of what may lurk in your food may be so frightful, so ghoulish it could send you spiraling into pure hysteria! Without further ado let us peer into the vault of horrors that the FDA has dared us to dwell. (note that meats are not included here because although they have their own regulations, we already know the dangers of under cooking meats and/or consuming raw meat. It's the other common foods that we overlook I wish to expose)
First let's meet the cast of our ghastly tale:
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| MITES |
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| APHIDS |
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| LARVAE |
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| FLY EGGS |
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| MOLD |
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| RODENTS |
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| MAGGOTS |
FDA Sanitation Link
The FDA allows the following amount of our cast in these common foods. The data is taken right from the link I have provided, which has more information about each food shown below. The data reflects the maximum amount of each gross material that can be in the food per the serving size they chose, either pre or post harvest/ production.
Pre/post harvest would mean essentially before or after they bring them from their natural growing state. We know that bugs are on food the grows in the wild, the FDA regulates how many bugs can be on them either while they grow or while they are being prepare to be shipped or packaged.
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BERRIES(Includes Blue, Black, Rasp etc.)
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BROCCOLI
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| POTATO CHIPS Rot: Average of 6% or more pieces by weight contain rot (Pre and Post Harvest) |
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| CHOCOLATE Insect Filth: 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 Rodent Filth: Average is 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams in 6 100-gram subsamples examined or Any 1 subsample contains 3 or more rodent hairs (All of these are post-harvest or during processing) |
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| PEANUT BUTTER Insect Filth: Average of 30 or more insect fragments per 100 grams Rodent Filth: Average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams (All of these are Post-harvest or during processing) |
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| POPCORN Rodent Filth: 1 or more rodent excreta pellets are found in 1 or more subsamples, and 1 or more rodent hairs are found in 2 or more other subsamples 2 or more rodent hairs per pound and rodent hair is found in 50% or more of the subsamples 20 or more gnawed grains per pound and rodent hair is found in 50% or more of the subsamples (All of these are post-harvest or processing) |
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| TOMATOES(Canned) Drosophila fly: Average of 10 or more fly eggs per 500 grams or 5 or more fly eggs and 1 or more maggots per 500 grams or 2 or more maggots per 500 grams. (Pre and post harvest and processing) |
As we can see there may be a few more ingredients in some of your favorite food than you initially thought. It's impossible to keep these types of bugs, filth and molds off our foods whether it's in the fields or in the giant factory as they are processed. The FDA has set some standards to try and limit the amount of these products, but it's not perfect. At one time or another you probably have eaten something with a trace amount of mold on it or with some type of filth within it's contents. As gross as it sounds it really is unavoidable even if you grow your own food, at some point a bug or rodent will have at least waltzed through the crops leaving droppings or hairs. Cleaning the food will get the filth off, but the fact is it was once there.
If part one of this blog hasn't peeled your eyes open to the hideousness of what may lurk in your food then next week's will surely test your sanity. Perhaps you should not read it alone or at least in the dark, because you never know what's waiting in the shadows HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!
"Revelations come when you're in the thick of it, pitting yourself up against something larger than yourself" -Dracula (1979 film)
*I am not a registered nutritionist or dietitian. The information presented is for education purposes only.
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