# Identify this bug in a tin of tomatoes please **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695 "2012-04-23T15:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/1 "2012-04-23T15:35:49Z")
Dammit! I would have thought any bug would have dissolved. But out of interest what the hell is this? > **[ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](https://imageshack.com/)** > > Unlimited space to host images, easy to use image uploader, albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on web and mobile. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/2 "2012-04-23T15:38:42Z")
A lawsuit. Or at least a whole lot of free tinned tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/3 "2012-04-23T15:41:53Z")
That’s a tomato hornworm. They are…um…edible. Not that I would ever try this recipe. :eek: [http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/hornworms.htm](http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/hornworms.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/4 "2012-04-23T15:57:59Z")
Yeah - we’ve accidentally eaten a couple of those through the years. Pretty boring in flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/5 "2012-04-23T16:03:20Z")
> [@Tabithina](#): > > That’s a tomato hornworm. They are…um…edible. Not that I would ever try this recipe. :eek: > [http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/hornworms.htm](http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/hornworms.htm) No horn visible on the pictured worm; my vote is for the [tomato fruitworm](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=&=&q=tomato+fruit+worm&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=aXyVT-CvOMrN6QHNuaWACw&biw=1164&bih=965&sei=fnyVT9ueKKy16AHHv-2aBA), which tend to feed inside the fruit and would be more likely to be missed during cleaning and canning stages. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/6 "2012-04-23T16:03:36Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > A lawsuit. Or at least a whole lot of free tinned tomatoes. Free Meat!!😃 ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/7 "2012-04-23T16:06:24Z")
These were plum tomatoes if that helps ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/8 "2012-04-23T16:11:16Z")
Looks more like a (very soggy) mealworm or a butterworm to me. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/9 "2012-04-23T20:58:19Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > No horn visible on the pictured worm; my vote is for the [tomato fruitworm](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=&=&q=tomato+fruit+worm&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=aXyVT-CvOMrN6QHNuaWACw&biw=1164&bih=965&sei=fnyVT9ueKKy16AHHv-2aBA), which tend to feed inside the fruit and would be more likely to be missed during cleaning and canning stages. Yeah no horn, and it does seem a bit too small for a hornworm. I have fond memories of being a jerk to them as a child. Nothing to freak out over, but up to you if you want to write a letter. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/10 "2012-04-23T21:15:49Z")
I heard some rumor that the FDA allows some ungodly huge amounts of worms in ketchup. Is there any truth to this? ---
**Author:** ![life\_and\_lemons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4af34b/32.png) [@life\_and\_lemons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/life_and_lemons)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/11 "2012-04-24T08:29:00Z")
Oh god, is there anything that is safe to eat? Processed foods are unhealthy but bug free ( kind of) and healthy veggies have bugs in them. I am so sick of finding bugs and worms in my food. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/12 "2012-04-24T08:52:34Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > I heard some rumor that the FDA allows some ungodly huge amounts of worms in ketchup. Is there any truth to this? > **[The Food Defect Action Levels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels)** > > The Food Defect Action Levels: Levels of Natural or Unavoidable Defects in Foods That Present No Health Hazards for Humans is a publication of the United States Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition detailing acceptable levels of food contamination from sources such as maggots, thrips, insect fragments, "foreign matter", mold, rodent hairs, and insect and mammalian feces. > The publication details the acceptable amounts of contaminants on a per food basis, li... Yup! 1 maggot per can of corn seems acceptable! Not sure about ketchup though ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/13 "2012-04-24T11:07:59Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > A lawsuit. Or at least a whole lot of free tinned tomatoes. My mother found what looked like a wood chip in a can of campbells soup. She sent it in with a complaint letter. They replied that they had it tested, it was “vegetable matter”. They enclosed a couple coupons for 30 cents off a can of soup. Not exactly the cases of free soup she expected. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/14 "2012-04-24T11:24:42Z")
What made me kind of “urk” is that half the can is gone… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/15 "2012-04-24T12:09:16Z")
> [@ExcitedIdiot](#): > > My mother found what looked like a wood chip in a can of campbells soup. She sent it in with a complaint letter. They replied that they had it tested, it was “vegetable matter”. Wood _is_ vegetable matter. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/16 "2012-04-24T12:57:59Z")
You know, there’s a certain scene from ‘Galaxy or Terror’ that I suggest the OP not watch… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-bug-in-a-tin-of-tomatoes-please/619695/17 "2012-04-24T13:10:42Z")
> [@life\_and\_lemons](#): > > Oh god, is there anything that is safe to eat? Processed foods are unhealthy but bug free ( kind of) and healthy veggies have bugs in them. I am so sick of finding bugs and worms in my food. Bugs and worms are not going to do you any harm. Just fish 'em out and carry on. Besides, as my mother once told me when I found a little maggot in a blackberry - it’s lived its whole life in that piece of fruit, so it effectively is made of fruit 😃