Saturday, February 14, 2009

Waiter, there's a fly in my Apple Butter

Salmonella in the peanut butter is bad - but what else are we eating in processed foods? The Food and Drug Administration has an illuminating little booklet that actually describes the allowable amounts of bug parts, rodent hairs, mammalian excreta, etc. in common foods. Here are some interesting threshold excerpts:

Apple butter - Insects - Average of 5 or more whole or equivalent insects (not counting mites, aphids, thrips, or scale insects) per 100 grams of apple butter

Oregano, whole plant - Mammalian excreta - Average of 1 mg or more mammalian excreta per pound

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
OR
2 or more rodent hairs per pound and rodent hair is found in 50% or more of the subsamples
OR
20 or more gnawed grains per pound and rodent hair is found in 50% or more of the subsamples

If you take a look at the booklet, its a good idea to eat something first.

1 comment:

Lynnis said...

Gross gross gross!!!!!! I was just about to eat persian food.