Many people are repulsed by the thought of intentionally eating insects and bugs. However, the truth is that we likely consume more than a few over the course of a year without even realizing it. Bugs manage to make their way into our food system in a variety of ways. From getting mixed into flour and grains, to landing on produce, to ending up in beverages, it’s actually quite difficult to avoid ingesting at least some insects unintentionally. So how many of these creepy crawlies are we really eating on a regular basis?
Bugs in Produce
Fresh fruits and vegetables are some of the most likely sources of unintentional bug consumption. Produce grows outdoors and is exposed to a wide variety of insects before being picked, packaged, shipped, and stocked in grocery stores. Even with various washing and processing procedures, it’s virtually impossible to remove every single insect and bug fragment that makes its way onto plant foods.
Some estimates suggest we end up eating around 1 pound of flies, maggots, and other bugs each year from fresh produce alone! This likely varies depending on where you live and the quality of produce you buy, but it’s an indication that fruits and veggies are a major contributor to our unintended bug ingestion.
Bugs in Grains and Flours
Grains, flours, and products made from them are another major source of surprise insect consumption. Grains grown for human food are stored in big silos and transported in bulk. This provides ample opportunity for bugs to infest them and lay eggs that get mixed right in. Wheat and rice are especially prone to infestation.
By the time grains reach factories for processing into flours, cereals, pastas, and breads, they already contain a considerable amount of insects and insect parts. The FDA actually allows a certain amount of bug pieces in food, which gives you an idea of how unavoidable it is. Products made from infested grains can pass along all those bugs to consumers.
Bugs as Food Ingredients
In some cases, insects aren’t just unintentional contaminants – they’re included as intentional ingredients. The most well-known example of this is the food coloring carmine, also called cochineal extract. This red coloring comes from the cochineal insect and is used to dye a wide variety of foods from yogurt to candy to juice.
Unless you carefully read every ingredient label, you may be eating cochineal extract without even realizing it. Other coloring agents may also be derived from insect shells and eggs. So if you see generic terms like “natural color” instead of specific colors like beet juice, there’s a chance bugs are involved.
Bugs in Chocolate
Chocolate and other cocoa-based treats are prone to infestation by interesting little insects known as chocolate moths. The moth larvae eat through the beans after harvest and during transport, leaving behind contaminants like larvae fragments and feces. Yum!
Heavy infestations can ruin whole cocoa batches. But smaller amounts of these bug parts inevitably remain in chocolate products. One study found an average of 60 insect fragments in every 100 grams of chocolate…so your average chocolate bar probably contains some crunchy moth parts.
Bugs in Wine and Beer
Alcoholic beverages are not exempt from insect invaders. The yeasts used in the fermentation of beer, wine, and other drinks can harbor unwanted tagalongs like fruit flies. Without diligent sanitation, these flies and larvae can end up crushed into the final beverages. Wines may also contain barrel mites that feed on yeast within the barrels used for aging. Cheers to that!
Spices and Herbs
Spices and dried herbs present the perfect environment for bugs to nest and breed. Like other dried foods, spices are inspected before export but some infestation is inevitable. The FDA allows around 400 insect fragments per 50 grams of spices like pepper and oregano. Yum!
Common invaders include pantry moths, cigarette beetles, and various other pests. So every teaspoon of spice you shake out likely comes with a side of bugs.
Allowable Defect Levels
The FDA recognizes that incidental contamination from insects is unavoidable, even with modern processing. So they allow certain “defect levels” of things like insect parts, rodent hairs, and mold in foods.
These established thresholds assure consumers that anything more extreme would be considered adulteration. But they also confirm that we are definitely eating a fair amount of gross stuff without knowing it.
Here are some examples of legal limits per FDA guidelines:
| Product | Contaminant | Allowable Level |
| Chocolate | Insect fragments | 60 or more per 100 grams |
| Peanut butter | Rodent hairs | 30 or more per 100 grams |
| Canned mushrooms | Maggots | 20 or more per 100 grams |
| Tomato juice | Fly eggs | 5 or more per 100 grams |
| Macaroni | Insect fragments | 225 or more per 225 grams |
| Wheat flour | Insect fragments | 75 or more per 50 grams |
| Curry powder | Insect fragments | 100 or more per 25 grams |
So while zero bugs would be ideal, the FDA recognizes this is not realistic and ensures anything above these thresholds gets tossed out. Still, it suggests we are eating a fair amount of bugs and bug parts!
Bugs That Cause Food Recalls
Sometimes bugs do cause foods to exceed the established defect levels, resulting in recalls to protect consumers. Here are some examples of recalls caused specifically by insects and bug parts:
- General Mills cereals, flour – Various beetles, moth larvae
- Wegmans bran cereal – Warehouse beetles
- Cadbury chocolate bars – Chocolate moth larvae
- Trader Joe’s grainless granola – Cadelle beetles
- BrightFarms salad greens – Armyworms
- Fresh Express salad packets – Insect larvae
- Spinach and mesclun salad mixes – Snails, beetles
These incidents illustrate that insects do make their way into foods frequently enough to warrant recalls when infestation levels are deemed too high.
Bugs That Commonly Contaminate Food
There are thousands of different insect species around the world, but only some pose major threats to our food system. Here are descriptions of some of the bugs that most commonly end up in foods unintentionally:
Beetles
Various beetles infest grain and flour. The sawtoothed grain beetle, merchant grain beetle, red flour beetle, and confused flour beetle are some of the main culprits. They leave behind fragments and larvae in infested foods.
Weevils
Granary weevils, rice weevils, and maize weevils damage whole grains by laying eggs inside kernels. The larvae burrow and eat their way out. You may spot adult weevils in flours and cereals.
Moths
Pantry moths and Indianmeal moths lay eggs in grains, flours, and cereals. Caterpillars emerge and leave behind webbing and excrement. Chocolate moths similarly infest cocoa beans and chocolate.
Fruit Flies
Vinegar flies and fruit flies invade wine and beer during fermentation. They fall in and drown, leaving fragments behind. Good sanitation is required to prevent infestations.
Thrips
These tiny pale bugs are drawn to flowers and can end up in ingredients like spices. Their small size enables them to elude detection.
Aphids
These sap-sucking bugs are found on many crops and may end up crushed into juices, jams, and other produce. Aphids secrete a sticky substance called honeydew that causes mold growth.
Leafhoppers
Related to aphids, these jumping bugs feed on plant sap and reside on the undersides of leaves. They can fall into beverages and solid foods during harvesting and processing.
Warehouse Beetles
These aptly named beetles infest dried foods in storage like cereal grains. Their presence indicates a serious sanitation issue in transport or storage facilities.
Cadelle Beetles
Also called grain beetles, these pests bore into whole grains, leaving behind frass (bug poop) and body fragments behind. They can completely ruin grain batches.
Mealworms
Despite their name, mealworms infest more than just meals and flours. These beetle larvae munch their way through grains, cereals, seeds, and even chocolate.
Crickets
Fields of crops like soy and corn can harbor large cricket populations. These sizable insects may end up smashed into harvested foods or ingredients made from the crops.
Estimated Bugs Eaten Per Year
Calculating an exact number of bugs consumed annually is challenging because contamination levels vary drastically based on where foods are produced, how they’re processed and handled, and what specific items you eat. However, we can make some educated estimates based on the information above:
- 10 pounds of flour eaten annually x 75 insect fragments per 50 grams of flour = approx 150 insect fragments per year.
- 5 pounds chocolate eaten annually x 60 insect fragments per 100 grams of chocolate = approx 150 insect fragments per year
- 1 pound of fresh produce eaten daily x 1/200 grams of bugs = approx 0.18 pounds of bugs per year.
- Spices, grains, alcoholic beverages likely contribute much smaller amounts.
This back-of-the-envelope estimation suggests that most people consume at least a few hundred insect parts and around a quarter pound of whole bugs unintentionally each year.
Vegetarians likely eat more since they consume greater amounts of grains. Processed foods and imported spices also increase insect consumption chances.
Ways to Reduce Unintended Bug Ingestion
If you want to cut back on unknowingly eating insects, here are some tips:
- Choose cereals, flours, and grains marked insect-free or treated to reduce infestation.
- Avoid bulk bins for foods like granola, trail mix, etc. which are vulnerable to pests.
- Check for signs of bugs in packaged foods like webbing, nibble marks, eggs, larvae.
- Limit imported spices and buy from regions with stricter sanitation laws.
- Rinse produce thoroughly before eating and cook it when possible.
- Drink wine and beer from sanitary producers that filter out contaminants.
- Avoid processed foods with hard-to-trace ingredients like “natural flavors.”
- Grow your own produce to control what goes into it completely.
It may not be possible to avoid every single bug, but these tips can help minimize their consumption. Remember that a small number of insect parts is not considered harmful anyway. And insects can even be a highly nutritious, sustainable source of protein if you can overcome the ick factor!
Conclusion
While no one wants to intentionally eat bugs and their various parts, the reality is that insects inevitably find their way into our foods. Estimates suggest we all consume a few hundred bug fragments and around 0.2 pounds of whole insects each year without even realizing it. This “secret” consumption comes from produce, grains, flours, spices, chocolates, beverages, and more. Certain processing methods, sanitation practices, and buying habits can reduce bug ingestion, but removing every single insect contaminant is just not possible. So rest assured that unless you’re actually noticing pronounced infestation, the occasional hidden insect remains well below unsafe levels!
