# Worm in the food... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 12, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420 "2008-11-12T21:17:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/21 "2008-11-13T19:10:53Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > I hope you named it [Eric](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=F_-vxAFcQIU) You missed it by 4 hours. ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/22 "2008-11-13T21:28:56Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > I picked up a package of fresh haddock and saw dozens of tiny orange worms squirming around on it. Pretty disgusting. I handed it to the fish clerk, and he didn’t seem too distressed. He said something like ‘Yeah, haddock can be pretty wormy’. He’s right, of course, and from what I gather from friends in the restaurant business if you eat fish you eat worms. Blech. WARNING - IF YOU LOVE SWORDFISH, AND WANT TO CONTINUE TO LOVE SWORDFISH, DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING: A friend of mine is a chef and informed me of certain worms that bore holes all through the meat of [swordfish](http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/this-fish-has-chops/). She said then the fish came in, they’d cut it into filets or steaks and have to pull, long, fairly girthy worms from the flesh. But…if I’d grabbed a couple haddock filets and saw live ORANGE (wf?!) worms writhing all over it, I’d probably contaminate the rest of the seafood kiosk with my vomit. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/23 "2008-11-14T00:36:17Z")
Yes, I love swordfish, which is why I don’t eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/24 "2008-11-14T02:07:28Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I read a statistic on the number of bugs a person unknowingly ingests in a lifetime. Seems we’re all potential contestants on Fear Factor. > > Maybe that’s why I’m not so much for the veggies. I am a big snorer and I have woken up with dead houseflies in my mouth on at least 3 separate occasions. I am sure that I didn’t even know about all the others. I just considered myself to be the most kick-ass Venus Flytrap ever. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/25 "2008-11-14T04:37:03Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I just considered myself to be the most kick-ass Venus Flytrap ever. Just wanted to thank you. Can’t stop laughing. I am in tears. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/26 "2008-11-14T12:08:08Z")
I dont know if it is still the case but Hong Kong used to export a lot of tinned Chinese style desserts/delicacies all over the world mostly to Chinese restaraunts who would then uncan them and serve them up to their customers as part of the meal. These canned goods were mostly made up in an area of H.K. called I believe the Citadel(But those more informed feel free to correct me if I’m wrong)where the conditions of hygiene were quite honestly not even up to medieval standards so that "problems"occurred quite often. I myself found a millipede shell in my dessert once(The rest of it presumably having melted into my frosted ginger)and got two meals,desserts and wine for free as a result. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/27 "2008-11-14T12:31:10Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > These canned goods were mostly made up in an area of H.K. called I believe the Citadel(But those more informed feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) Kowloon [Walled City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City) maybe? Rumoured to be unmappable, and definitely unpoliceable. ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420/28 "2008-11-14T17:49:19Z")
Years ago, I remember reading in one of my little nerdy books that I picked up in the reference section about the allowance of vermin in food. I like to gross my boyfriend out with the factoids I happen to remember. I have a thing about pulpy orange juice…filtering bits of transluscent organic matierial is not appetizing to me. I easily convinced him to get “no pulp” since it “contains less bug parts per cubic centimeter.” The book also said something about allowing 1 rat hair per container of peanut butter. I’ve been through about 30 jars of peanut butter since reading that stat and, luckily, have not encountered any obvious hairs. I’ll see if I can remember which book it was. For some reason, I feel like it may have been from the [“Big Secrets”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Secrets) series by William Poundstone. [Here’s](http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html) a list of some of he FDA nastiness allowance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worm-in-the-food/472420.md?page=1)