It happened two times in as many weeks. A Philadelphia pizza shop owner was arrested for interfering with a competitor’s ability to conduct business and numerous other violations. And how did he accomplish this dastardly deed? He deposited live rats and mice into his competitor’s store after hours. One guy was so determined to ruin his fellow pizza preparer’s reputation and financial viability that he crawled through the attics of the shops separating the two businesses, a dangerous deed, so that he could drop the rats and mice from the ceiling into the kitchen area. And the patrons thought that was ground beef on top of their pizza.
The above reminded me of a story that made the headlines many years ago as an urban legend with drastically inflated totals based on the actual events that really occurred The Baby Ruth bar has been around since the late 1800s and has always been a consumer’s favorite due to its smooth consistency and unique taste. In 1981, when Curtiss Candy (the inventor and original manufacturer) was acquired by the Nestlé company, the poo content in the bars dropped to down into the 2-3 % range. The primary reason was that in relocating the factory, laying off a majority of Curtiss employees or forcing them into early retirement, nobody was able or willing to share the Baby Ruth Candy Bar recipe with their new parent company. Nestlé reverse engineered the bar, but decided to leave out much of the valuable doo doo that made this candy bar so unique. Sales plummeted, and it wasn’t until a huge outcry from consumers that Nestlé agreed to raise the poo content up to an acceptable level. Sadly Nestlé never did adopt the huge poo content standard originally set by Otto Schnering (the candy bar’s inventor).
Any good business person will tell you that it’s good to keep a leg up on the competition. Speaking of legs up, did you know that most people in the US who are "allergic to chocolate" actually are not allergic to chocolate, but rather to cockroaches? Cockroach allergy is extremely common and, since there are cockroaches (and legs and excrement) in the cocoa beans used to make chocolate, people have allergic reactions to it. People who are "allergic to chocolate" usually have no problem with Swiss, German or Dutch chocolate where the regulations are stricter.
What to do about doo doo, roaches, legs and other disgusting things in food? Regulate it. The US Food and Drug Administration has actually established the ‘acceptable’ levels of all types of insect and animal parts, molds and related stomach churners that foods may contain. Some examples:

ASPARAGUS, CANNED OR FROZEN Insect filth(MPM-V93) 10% by count of spears or pieces are infested with 6 or more attached asparagus beetle eggs and/or sacs
Insects(MPM-V93) Asparagus contains an average of 40 or more thrips per 100 grams

CHERRY JAM Mold(MPM-V61) Average mold count is 30% or more

CITRUS FRUIT JUICES, CANNED Mold(AOAC 970.75) Average mold count is 10% or more
Insects and insect eggs(AOAC 970.72) 5 or more Drosophila and other fly eggs per 250 ml or 1 or more maggots per 250 ml

CORN: SWEET CORN, CANNED Insect larvae(AOAC 973.61) Insect larvae (corn ear worms, corn borers) 2 or more 3mm or longer larvae, cast skins, larval or cast skin fragments of corn ear worms or corn borer and the aggregate length of such larvae, cast skins, larval or cast skin fragments exceeds 12 mm in 24 pounds (24 No. 303 cans or equivalent)

PEANUT BUTTER Insect filth(AOAC 968.35) Average of 30 or more insect fragments per 100 grams
Rodent filth(AOAC 968.35) Average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams
Grit(AOAC 968.35) Gritty taste and water insoluble inorganic residue is more than 25 mg per 100 grams

That’s enough of that. I’m sure you’ve gotten the point from the tiny sample taken from the FDA’s guidelines above.

It seems that we waste time in cooking and preparing the maggot, roach, worm and mold infested delicacies. What to do? Knowledge is power ; will knowing about the poo content of peanut butter make us eliminate it from our diets? For a couple of weeks yes, after preparing this post. Is the knowledge that government agencies are monitoring the situation comforting? It seems to be all we’ve got.

Source: US Food and Drug Administation – Defect Levels Handbook

Yuck.

I don't think "yuck". I think "interesting". Interesting in that people seem to be rather upset about it. Quite frankly, I'd rather have (dead/cooked/inert) insect parts in my food rather than chemical additives such as:

1) antifreeze (aka the main component propylene glycol, which you will find in cosmetics, stick deodorants, make-up, hair products, body lotions, after-shave, mouthwashes, ice cream, muffin/cookie mixes and VACCINES). It's put in the category of "preservatives", but did you know that because of its ability to permeate the skin, workers are required to wear all sorts of protective gear? But it's "okay" to INGEST it or have it INJECTED? lol

2) Pesticides. These are MUCH more toxic over time than ANY amount of bugs you might eat, but believe me, they are present in everything you buy at a grocery store, no matter whether fresh, frozen or canned.

3) Herbicides. Ditto

4) "Enrichments" (these are the basic nutrients that are destroyed by processing and replaced by chemicals instead. How can THAT be good for you?)

5) Food colorings (suspected of causing allergies, attention deficit syndrome, asthma, etc)

6) there are plenty more, such as plastic in potato chips, but as usual I'm already too long-winded, so will sum up now...

Lots of people are on the "organic bandwagon" these days, but they don't seem to understand that with that sort of growing method their fruit might not be "perfect" or that they might end up with insects in their vegetables. The reality is that when I was a child EVERYTHING WE ATE WAS "ORGANIC", nothing was processed. If that meant we ate a few grains of dirt or bugs along with the meal? Big deal lol.

The really SAD part is that they charge an arm and a leg nowadays for "organic foods", simply because it's a "fashion" these days lol. In reality it costs FAR less to grow it that way (other than loss due to disease or infestation). Don't fall forthe propoganda. Grow it yourself if you can. If you don't have a yard fo your own, participate in a community garden. Freeze/can/preserve your own stuff properly and you won't have worry about the "chemmies" OR the mold. And by the by, there are PLENTY of tribal cultures who would probably starve to death if not for the insects they include as protein in their diets (but notice they eat them fresh, not processed lol).