Waiter, There Are 3.2 Fly Parts In My Soup!
	found on FDA written by Djerrid, edited by Humberto (Plastic) [ read unedited ] posted Wed 25 Sep 9:15am
		"The US Food and Drug Administration has set in place standards to 'establish maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods'," writes Djerrid, referring to the admittedly old guidelines. "Even though they are reported to 'pose no inherent hazard to health', FDA's threshold of tolerance may be a bit more lenient then your own. What percentage of cherries infested by maggots would it take for you to reject the batch? The FDA sets the bar at 5%. For fish it's 60 parasitic cysts per 100 fish. For tomato sauce, 30 fly eggs per 100 grams (~3.5 ounces). Standards must be set and if they are too strict the price of food rises, too lenient and food quality deteriorates. How would you strike an appropriate ballance, and by what criteria? Emotional knee-jerk reactions might get you to reduce the number of insect heads in your Fig Newtons, but what would the ramifications be? (Notice that the 'Significance' for most of these standards is due to 'Aesthetics', not health risks.) Any guess as to whether the food industry influences food quality standards?"

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show almost all: 28 commentsbest: 4 comments by oldest first (ignore threads) newest first highest scores first oldest first newest first (ignore threads)

1.  Surprise!   by Anonymous Idiot       at Wed 25 Sep 9:32am score of 2 clever     You've been eating that stuff all along, your whole life. You aren't dead yet, are you? Next, Djerrid will post an article about the horrors of what's in SAUSAGE. Stay tuned.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

24.  Surprise!   by Djerrid       at Wed 25 Sep 9:27pm score of 1   in reply to comment 1     No, just figs. 'In cases of major discrepancy, it's always reality that's got it wrong.' -Douglas Adams   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]   28.  Re: Surprise!   by yellowbeard       at Fri 27 Sep 3:27pm score of 1   in reply to comment 24     God damn it! I love fig newtons! choke I am not infantile, you stinkybutt poopyhead!   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

2.  eeewwww!!!   by jonoman007       at Wed 25 Sep 9:38am score of 1     This is something that we all know, but I did not need to know about the amount that is allowed to go in the food.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

3.  Fly-Head Fig Newtons   by CaptainLiberal       at Wed 25 Sep 9:38am score of 1     I never get enough fly-heads in my Fig Newtons, frankly. Lot of protein in that fly head. Every dream turns into something on a T-shirt -- Shriekback   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

10.  Re: Fly-Head Fig Newtons   by Benny Hill       at Wed 25 Sep 10:17am score of 1.5 funny   in reply to comment 3     Speaking of, I just ate half a box of Fig Newtons for lunch. (Uh, before I read this). I can feel the power of fly-heads kicking in and they'll keep me going all afternoon!   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]   14.  You don't know the half fo it...   by Djerrid       at Wed 25 Sep 10:45am score of 2.5 scholarly   in reply to comment 10     The flower for fig trees actually blooms on the inside of a fig, not the outside. How does it pollinate? Glad you asked. All fig wasps (Chalcid wasps) are born inside figs. The males are born first and fight each other to the death for the right to procreate (they never see the light of day). The last one alive impregnates all of the female wasps before they even hatch and then drops dead. After the females are born, they bore out of the figs, covered in pollen, and fly to a new fig. Don't worry, that crunching sound isn't probably a wasp head. Domestic figs procrate without wasps. 'In cases of major discrepancy, it's always reality that's got it wrong.' -Douglas Adams   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

4.  Waiting for the Secret Ingredient   by Joust       at Wed 25 Sep 9:46am score of 1.5 succinct     I'm still waiting to hear the ingredients on Soylent Green. To continue: Insert another token.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

5.  Hmm   by cloudofdust       at Wed 25 Sep 9:51am score of 1     Maybe Snopes.com is wrong. Maybe the average person really does swallow eight spiders per year. A leg here, a leg there, pretty soon it adds up.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

6.  Needs more information   by bitter_engineer       at Wed 25 Sep 9:56am score of 1.5 funny     I mean, sure, its helpful to know that 5 larvae is too much to have in one can of peas, but how many peas is too much to have mixed in with my insect larvae? Non estat prandium gratuitum   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

7.  Most of the good jokes are taken...   by geekybob       at Wed 25 Sep 9:57am score of 2 astute     so I'll type some boring serious shit. Nobody likes the idea of eating that crap, but Standards must be set and if they are too strict the price of food rises, too lenient and food quality deteriorates. What this accurate statement does not make clear is that this runs smack into the law of diminishing returns. To cut the infestation tolerance in half might cost five or ten times as much as is now spent keeping it to its current levels. As my mother said when we found little bugs in the flour, "It's all protein, son." I'm not a Democrat, I'm a liberal. Democrats go to meetings.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

8.  Nothing new   by wallfly       at Wed 25 Sep 10:04am score of 1     I learned about this back in high school. Our history teacher told us about this book "The Jungle" by Upton sinclair, which may or may not be directly relevant, but had some things we just didn't want to know about. He had already told us of how many fly pieces were allowed in each cup of flour, sugar, etc. But then he told us about this book concerning the poor working conditions in Chicago in the early 1900's. Apparently, in the book, Sinclair tells of instances where workers fell into vats of steel (or food) and were simply processed with the rest of the product already in the vat. Let's just hope the working conditions have improved since then, eh? And in the mean time, consider whether Uncle Louie really ran away or if he's just part of your car bumper.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

9.  Hot Dog! We have a wiener!   by Akio       at Wed 25 Sep 10:13am score of 2 intriguing     There is a USDA restriction as to the allowable amount of rat excrement and rodent feces per hot dog. But considering the vast quantities of toxins we ingest and inhale every day, a little Mickey Mouse poopy probably won't do that much harm. Hell, there are more germs in the human mouth than in the human anus! Think about that the next time you're giving a rimjob. monkeyrotica.com: "It's like when they opened the Ark of the Covenant. Except with monkeys."   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

25.  Re: Hot Dog! We have a wiener!   by slutmonkey       at Wed 25 Sep 9:47pm score of 1   in reply to comment 9     id wager a guess that theres about 100% less e coli in my mouth than my partners anus... apostrophes are for wimps   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

11.  fly eggs   by Anonymous Idiot       at Wed 25 Sep 10:40am score of 1.5 funny     30 fly eggs per 100 grams! I think that's way too many, i'd say 17 fly eggs per 100 grams should be about the limit.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

12.  Well at least we have standards   by A Wandering Mind       at Wed 25 Sep 10:44am score of 1     No longer will the slogan "we raise the standard" be considered good marketing. -Talk is cheap so I do it often   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

13.  exactly   by LostBoyJim       at Wed 25 Sep 10:44am score of 1.5 helpful     I'm glad to see that Plastiods are replying with basically a, "yeah, we know that, so what?" attitude. Growning up on a farm you realize that stuff gets in food and it's ok. Hell, I have shared more than one candy bar with my dog. The fact is that the standards are high, and "The Jungle" aside, the food is sanitary and safe. (Yes, you can sanitize rat poop if you cook it hot enough). LostBoy jim   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

17.  Re: exactly   by Mad Ogger       at Wed 25 Sep 2:06pm score of 1   in reply to comment 13     I think this stuff should be publicized just so people get less anal about purity and sanitation. I hardly ever wash my floor but I don't hesitate to eat something that fell on the floor. Is it a coincidence that there was an excerpt from this in this month's Harper's?   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]   26.  Re: exactly   by Zi       at Wed 25 Sep 10:33pm score of 1   in reply to comment 13     "Yes, you can sanitize rat poop if you cook it hot enough." Well, you don't want to get it too hot or it'll caramelize. If that happens, no amount of cummin or paprika is going to save your dinner. So it goes. - Kurt Vonnegut   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

15.  Mmm mmm good.   by MAYORBOB       at Wed 25 Sep 10:52am score of 1.5 funny     Maggots, parasitic cysts, fly eggs, and rat feces in a cream sauce -- it's what's for dinner! Tending to final details.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

16.  6 oz. Over a Lifetime   by alternadox       at Wed 25 Sep 2:03pm score of 1     I heard an FDA statistic that the average American will inadvertently consume about an ounce of animal feces in their lifetime. There's a Leno monologue somewhere, but dammit, I am actually that lazy to come up with one. -alternadox People who live in glass houses should wear a bathrobe - Win at Losing and Fail Successfully   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

18.  Wasps in my Newtons???   by Argus Defthammer       at Wed 25 Sep 2:15pm score of 1     Well...it wouldn't be crunchy now, would it. By the way...I love Fig Newtons...wasp parts and all. Diamond encrusted howler monkey   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

27.  Re: Wasps in my Newtons???   by jenmac       at Thu 26 Sep 7:42pm score of 1.5 clever   in reply to comment 18     Nevertheless, I suggest that you replace the words "Wasps" with the legend "Crunchy Raw Unboned Real Dead Wasps" if you want to avoid prosecution... I love Fig Newtons, too. If I find a jagged metal Krusty-O in my Fig Newtons, I'll stop eating them. Anything else is fair game. Is it sticky? Would it kill you? -- snut_rucket's son at the La Brea tar pits   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

19.  Organic Goodness; Why its so expensive.   by Ananna       at Wed 25 Sep 3:25pm score of 1     It is my opinion this is akin to the reason Organic food is so expensive, yet is not very popular. It's not just the economy of scale. Organic food tends to be less "wholesome" looking, yet it is likely to be really and truly more wholesome than food that is otherwise hormone-induced and pesticide-sprayed. While the benefits of organic food over mass-produced food using the more risky technological techniques are likely to be there, the end product is almost always less appealing to the eye. And when one is shopping, one tends to pick the bunch of grapes that has the fewest spiders in it, even though those spiders are keeping that same bunch of grapes from being totally infested by the more unseen, but less appetizing insects. All-in-all, Americans are terrifically lucky to have our pick of really the most delicious, clean, healthy food on the planet. If the choice is between eating a couple of fly eggs in my scone and not having a scone at all, I'll take the fly-egg raspberry scone each and every day of the week. And I'll like it! You can't show a bear wearing only a shirt, since that implies that the bear ought to be wearing pants, but isn't.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

20.  Most of us lead a sheltered life   by ddp42       at Wed 25 Sep 3:27pm score of 1     My mother grew up very poor in a small town in Indiana. They had no indoor plumbing, and she once gave me a very descriptive account of various creatures that she would find in the water that she had to draw from the well in a bucket to bring in for cooking. Somehow, though, the notion of scooping out whole toads and insects and such didn't sound quite as unappealing as picking out pieces of various critters does, but I'm not sure why this is so.... I think it was a book I read some years ago called The Secret House that included a rather distressing description of the production of chocolate, though I can't say it did much to diminish my desire; some things are just plain worth it! Not all flowers open in the morning.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

21.  Re: pieces of various critters   by barbapapa       at Wed 25 Sep 4:10pm score of 1   in reply to comment 20     What's worse than finding a worm in your apple? (Answer is below)! Ok. Perhaps, maybe scooping out partial critters is more unappealing, because we scientifically know that there's a greater chance of deadly bacteria in rotten critter guts than on dirty critter surfaces. Yes, I believe that is the answer. Or maybe we have an animal instinct for fresh kill -- still twitching, if possible. Gnarr! Quite unrelated: What if the FDA had absolutely zero scientific mandate. They just raised the standards whenever there was a public outcry, and slowly lowered them the rest of the time. As long as evenly applied, this trial&error approach would "work", relying on history to correct dangers. No? Answer: a half worm and a piece of fishing line.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

22.  Don't travel much, do you?   by dinkum       at Wed 25 Sep 6:54pm score of 1     Anyone who's scandalized by these tidbits of information hasn't gotten out of their nice little corner of the world and see how the other half lives. Our food is positively pristine compared to what millions of people at every day. Throw on any old thing and you'll look great.   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]

23.  QC on beer ingredients   by zhwj0119       at Wed 25 Sep 8:38pm score of 1     Compare spinach (50 aphids per 100 grams) and hops (2500 aphids per 10 grams). This strikes me as being a heck of a lot of insects--the specs say this only has aesthetic significance, but it makes me wonder if some of the bad beer I've had has been due to hops at the upper end of this limit. zh--- If I had known it was harmless, I would have killed it myself. --A Scanner Darkly, Philip K. Dick   [ ...reply just to this | comment on the story... | next new ]