There Are Maggots In Your Canned Mushrooms

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Canned mushrooms can be a solid substitute for their fresh brethren in the produce aisle. They’re meaty in texture for the vegetarians out there, they’re typically cheaper, and their shelf life makes them an excellent pantry-stocking staple. They also provide a boost of iron, magnesium and B-complex vitamins to your diet… alongside a few maggots.

Yep, the gross-out factor is all too real here. The Food and Drug Administration allows up to 19 maggots and 74 mites in every 3.5-ounce can of mushrooms before they act on behalf of our food’s safety. If you’ve ever eaten canned mushrooms, it’s likely you’ve also ingested a maggot (or two) by accident.

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The worst part is you don’t just run this risk with preserved fungi. In fact, critters can be found in cans of tomatoes, tomato paste, pizza sauce and even Maraschino cherries. Blegh. The amounts vary depending on the product, but canned fruits and veggies really aren’t sacred.

Now, the good news is that maggots are completely edible and safe, and are actually considered by some to be a traditional superfood. Cue the sigh of relief because according to writer E.J. Levy, a contributor to The New York Times, “You’re probably ingesting one to two pounds of flies, maggots and mites each year without knowing it.” But just because they won’t harm you doesn’t mean they aren’t the grossest bug on the face of the planet and the last thing we want to imagine consuming.

If you’re not up for finding little maggot friends in your canned mushrooms in the future, you can always just shell out the extra cash for fresh produce — and that goes for other fruits and vegetables, too. The more you know!