About Alex Avery Expertise Questions regarding organic food, agriculture, pesticides, herbicides, environmental issues, food safety, bacterial infection, agricultural economics, crop biotechnology, wildlife conservation, erosion, global food issues.
Experience Director of research and education with the Center for Global Food Issues at Hudson Institute. Prior to joining Hudson in 1994, I was a McKnight research fellow at Purdue University, where I worked to develop drought-resistant sorghum varieties for the Sudan of Africa.
I have spoken to a wide variety of national and international audiences and have represented the Center at the United Nations World Food Summit in Rome. I have written numerous articles which were published in leading newspapers and am currently working on a book.
Organizations Center for Global Food Issues
Publications Washington Times, American Outlook, Global Food Quarterly, Des Moines Register, USA Today Magazine, Canada's Western Producer, New York Post and others.
Awards and Honors McKnight Research Fellowship at Purdue University
Question Wow! You are just the right person for my question!
I noticed these flies hatched out of two things I bought in the supermarket. They also made a web which looks like a spiderweb. The items were:
1. A jar of peanuts
2. A bag of trail mix (which also contained nuts).
Both items were bought properly sealed out of a reputable supermarket. The bugs didn't hatch right away, but only after the item had been stored for a while. Do these bugs attach their eggs to the peanuts which are then sold? It's scary to think I'm eating these things!
Thank you for your assistance!
Answer Ruth, you have an interesting experience. First, I can only assume that your peanut butter/trail mix were contaminated AFTER they were opened. The peanut butter is heated (pasteurized) in the container to prevent mold/insect infestation. Modern processors are highly keen to avoid such embarrassments. However, it could be that the package was compromised before purchase and the infestation occured then. I have no idea what specific insect you've run across as there are many potential culprit insects that will eat and lay larvae on nuts.
Regardless, you should throw out these foods as the insect damage, even if you could rid the products of the insects, opens the possibility of mold/fungal contamination. This then leads to the contamination by fungal toxins, which can be highly carcinogenic.
Rest assured, you have experienced a very unusual, rare occurance in today's food world and in the future you can eat nut containing products with confidence as long as you store them properly. Peanut butter should not need any refridgeration if consumed within a reasonable time period after opening, and trail mixes, when stored in sealed containers, should remain free of insects/mold for several months if kept in reasonably cool and dry place.
