True or False? [Does spam have maggots in it?]

[swalerroe7]

If you open up a can of spam, slice a few pieces and then leave them exposed on your kitchen counter you will find "maggots" have been in this stuff all along! Is this true or just an urban myth? :confused:


This is my first post so I wanted to make a good impression!!!!! :cool:

[Harmonious Discord]

Untrue.

You can have maggots in about half a day, if flies in your house lay eggs on it. They have a fast reproduction rate.

Feel free to preview your posts to maintain quality.

[Santo Rugger]

How would they survive the canning process? Why is maggots in quotations?

[NinetyWt]

Since you want to "make a good impression", I gently suggest that you may want to refrain from posting in colors which are hard to read.

The answer to your question is "of course not", as others have noted.

[Lobsang]

Ugh, this thread made me wriggle uncontrollably.

[KneadToKnow]

As others have said, the notion is patently ridiculous. However, if you send yourself through a transporter of your own design with a fly trapped inside with you and then knock up Geena Davis ...

[Mark Ryle]

I caught a mouse in a trap overnight above a dropped ceiling and put him outside next moring in a garbage can with some yard waste at the bottom and a tight lid. Next day he was swarming with "maggots." By garbage night, a total of 2-1/2 days after putting him in the garbage can, nothing was left but fur and bones. At what point is it likely flies got to him? I'm wondering if they got to him during the few hours overnight he was caught in the trap. Do flies operate in the dark?

[This'll Do]

Welcome to the boards, swalerroe7.

False. While cruising I've opened a can of Spam for breakfast and kept it unrefrigerated all day (even in the tropics) before frying up the rest for supper. Never saw any maggots. Hasn't poisoned me so far, either. I think it must have an awful lot of preservatives.

I like Spam.

[Valgard]

From one of the "Big Secrets" books by William Poundstone, in a section on processed meat products, here's some info on how SPAM is made.

It's ground, mixed and packed at 34F (to minimize growth of bacteria). It's then vacuum packed into tins which are cooked (and thus sterilized) in a big oven - 70 minutes at 230F. Until you open the can, SPAM is pretty stable. I've never eaten the stuff but I understand that it's got an extraordinarily long shelf life (years).

Anyhow, if a fly managed to lay an egg in the meat before it got packed, the vacuum and subsequent cooking would kill it.

Hormel has sold literally billions of tins of SPAM - if it was full of maggots there'd be plenty of proof by now (and Hormel would be in deep doodoo).

[KneadToKnow]

I like Spam.
Are you sure you wanted to say that here on the intertubez?

[Inner Stickler]

I like Spam.Me too. If you cut it into slices and fry it, it goes pretty well with pancakes.

[This'll Do]

Are you sure you wanted to say that here on the intertubez?

Gah! You're right; I should be more cautious. :D

Attention all bots: While I luurve Hormel's tasty canned swine flesh, I have no interest in enlarging my breasts or my non-existent penis. I do not take narcotics; I don't need any Viagra. Thank you.

[Si Amigo]

Are you sure you wanted to say that here on the intertubez?

Somebody has to do this. (http://www.detritus.org/spam/skit.html) .

I feel like a cheap slut for Spam.

[Santo Rugger]

Hormel has sold literally billions of tins of SPAM - if it was full of maggots there'd be plenty of proof by now (and Hormel would be in deep doodoo).To be fair, if they were in deep doodoo, the maggots would be more likely.

[Rhythmdvl]

Welcome to the boards!

Another good impression suggestion -- try and make your post titles descriptive, else fewer people will read the thread (and descriptive titles are generally more polite).

Welcome :)

[Doug Bowe]

I caught a mouse in a trap overnight above a dropped ceiling and put him outside next moring in a garbage can with some yard waste at the bottom and a tight lid. Next day he was swarming with "maggots." By garbage night, a total of 2-1/2 days after putting him in the garbage can, nothing was left but fur and bones. At what point is it likely flies got to him? I'm wondering if they got to him during the few hours overnight he was caught in the trap. Do flies operate in the dark?

When a body dies it puts out an oder you and I cannot detect but attracts flies...like flies.

[teela brown]

I like Spam.

Me, too.

Here's a heavenly concoction (http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/2142835/spammusubibanditaflickrcreativecommonssharealike2.0-main_Full.jpg). Beware; it's addictive.

I've never seen any maggots in my Spam, though. If they did happen to get into some pre-Spam pork, they're thoroughly cooked and salted before ending up on my musubi.

[panache45]

Ugh, this thread made me wriggle uncontrollably.
Once again, "Are you sure you wanted to say that here on the intertubez?"

[capybara]

Mmm. Spam musubi. With furikake in the rice and a wee bit of ume paste. . mmm.

Oh, false. Spam is a favorite recipient of ULs.

[LouisB]

During WW ll*, we ate a ton of Spam; I was very young and didn't know any better. We continued eating the stuff for a couple of years after war and I actually got to like it. I ate it in college and on fishing/camping trips right to my early thirties. I tried to eat Spam a year or so ago and couldn't stand it. Age robs one of so many previously enjoyable things.

*Yes, I remember several things about the war years and I vividly remember the day my Father came home and announced that the war was finally over.

[BF]

[Homer Simpson]Mmmm.... Spam[/HS]Ditto for this SPAMTM lovah... It rounds out a nice breakfast of pancakes, eggs and an english muffin; and usually is an integral part of a plate lunch (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-570424.html).

[Chronos]

Not only that, it also has stray dogs in it. Want proof? Toss a bunch of it out on your lawn. By mid-morning, it'll have dogs all over it.

[KRSOradio]

Doesn't the law permit some types of food to contain certain undesirable things like flies or hair? Perhaps I'm incorrect, but if not, then maybe the OP was getting at that. If Spam was allowed to contain flies maybe one would hatch or lay eggs.

I love Spam because like all great food it's mostly fat

[Celyn]

Chronos wins!

So I suppose even stray cats have better and fussier taste. :D

[Dr. Woo]

Welcome to the boards, swalerroe7.

False. While cruising I've opened a can of Spam for breakfast and kept it unrefrigerated all day (even in the tropics) before frying up the rest for supper. Never saw any maggots. Hasn't poisoned me so far, either. I think it must have an awful lot of preservatives.

I like Spam.
I must share with you my last-night-before-reprovisioning recipe for Spam creole. It's faaaaabulous.

[t-bonham@scc.net]

Isn't this pretty much the spontaneous generation theory of disease, which was replaced by the germ theory after Pasteur's experiments had refuted spontaneous generation? About 230 years ago.

In fact, this seems very much like Pasteur's experiments (except poorly done). Set out 2 samples of Spam, one open to the air and the other sealed in an airtight container. The sealed one should remain un-maggotted. Then unseal it, and it will soon show maggots, too.

[KGS]

If you're desperate to eat maggots, try some Casu Marzu. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggot_cheese)

[Jackmannii]

I am hearing many of the responses to the OP in a high-pitched Monty Python voice.

I'll have the lobster thermidor with aubergines, shallots and a heapin' helpin' of Spam, please. Hold the maggots.

[RiverRunner]

Me too. If you cut it into slices and fry it, it goes pretty well with pancakes.

Yep. You can make a decent sandwich with fried Spam slices, too, but I max out at one sandwich. That pretty much meets my salt limit for the day.

Oh, and swalerroe7, you might be interested in what the Master says (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_229.html) about Spam. Personally, I think it's hard to go wrong with Spam haiku. Maintaining the theme, here is my off-the-cuff submission:

Yummy fried in oil,
but I hit my limit of
sodium chloride.


RR

[TheLoadedDog]

OK, it might not be maggoty, but let's assume it isn't primo meat.

So why is it so freakin' expensive?

[yabob]

OK, it might not be maggoty, but let's assume it isn't primo meat.

So why is it so freakin' expensive?
1 - people will pay it.

2 - for you folks in Oz, it's an imported item.

Rather than fight it, just invest in HRL (one does wonder about the choice of stock symbol for a company which manufactures food items.)

[This'll Do]

I must share with you my last-night-before-reprovisioning recipe for Spam creole. It's faaaaabulous.

Bring it on; I'd love to try it!

Isn't it interesting how one can remember the delicious one-pot concoction whipped up in a gale on a passage ten years ago, but can't recall what last night's dinner was?

[KneadToKnow]

Since it's been over 24 hours now, I'll go ahead and admit that this thread made me stop and buy Spam for dinner last night.

[DrDeth]

A lot of food has some insect trace amounts in it. I suspect Spam does too. But I don't think that's what the OP is talking about.

[capybara]

Damn, this makes me want to go to that one diner in Laupahoehoe.

[Sailboat]

Isn't the premise of the OP more-or-less spontaneous generation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation), an idea that's been conclusively debunked for hundreds of years?

Sailboat

[Frylock]

Isn't the premise of the OP more-or-less spontaneous generation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_generation), an idea that's been conclusively debunked for hundreds of years?

Sailboat

No, the premise of the OP is that there are maggots in Spam. Spontaneous Generation would imply that there are not maggots in Spam generally, but that maggots arise in Spam when Spam is left out.

The OP says the maggots were there "all along."

-FrL-

[Sailboat]

If you open up a can of spam, slice a few pieces and then leave them exposed on your kitchen counter you will find "maggots" have been in this stuff all along! Is this true or just an urban myth? :confused:

Spontaneous generation presupposed that the "germ" for living things pre-existed in the material. A specific example always cited by those arguing spontaneous generation was that maggots appeared in meat after you left it exposed on the counter because the maggots (or the material from with they sprang) had been in the meat all along. Spontaneous generation was finally debunked by showing that maggots came from material (eggs) added to the meat after it was exposed.

Maybe -- maybe -- the OP is in fact maintaining that intact maggots are sealed into the can of spam and survive, and maybe the OP is echoing the classic spontaneous generation argument. Frankly I don't see enough "meat" in the OP to tell which argument is being made, and the fact that it's essentially a restatement of the classic s. gen. argument makes me wonder.

Sailboat

[Santo Rugger]

Am I the only one who sees this thread title and reads:

"Do the chickens have large talons?"

[billfish678]

Does Spam have maggots in it?

That has got to be the most stupid question I have ever seen.

Of course it does NOT.

Any fool could tell you it would then taste better and be much more expensive :)

Blll

[chowder]

During WW ll*, we ate a ton of Spam; I was very young and didn't know any better. We continued eating the stuff for a couple of years after war and I actually got to like it. I ate it in college and on fishing/camping trips right to my early thirties. I tried to eat Spam a year or so ago and couldn't stand it. Age robs one of so many previously enjoyable things.

*Yes, I remember several things about the war years and I vividly remember the day my Father came home and announced that the war was finally over.

You ate a ton of Spam during WWII?

Jebus, we were lucky to get half a roofing tile thinly smeared with lard.

And that was at Christmas

[Mangetout]

I think if you cut a few chunks of Spam and leave them out on the counter, they'll dry out - and in doing so, shrink, causing the extrusion of little sticks or threads of semi-solid fat, which probably look a bit like maggots.

I haven't tried this though, because it's a waste of Spam.