Just to kick start that diet of yours

I consumed about 5000 plant lice on Friday. And I only drank 1 beer. Grrrrrreat.

In an NYT article, E.J. Levy finds that the The F.D.A. actually condones a certain percentage of “natural contaminants” in our food supply — meaning, among other things, bugs, mold, rodent hairs and maggots.


For example:

1. Tomato juice may average “10 or more fly eggs per 100 grams [the equivalent of a small juice glass] or five or more fly eggs and one or more maggots.”

2. Canned mushrooms may have “over 20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid”

3. Just 10 grams of hops could have as many as 2,500 plant lice.

I'm honestly eating only pretzels for the next 10 days.