Particularly with the warm spell we’re having, berries are a delicious and healthy sweet treat.
And if you’re partial to the odd strawberry, you’ll want to watch what you’re about to see with caution, as it may drastically affect your future enjoyment.
A fruit cleaning method has gone viral on TikTok showing just how many bugs are living inside the fruit.
Writer Krista Torres shared a video of a method she’d seen to clean berries, submerging them in salt water for 30 minutes.
Once the salt soak is compete, Krista is seen dry-heaving after watching worms crawl from the flesh of the fruit.
‘It’s moving. There it is,’ she says as she holds up the strawberry for the camera.
‘Oh my God, I am going to barf. I am so disgusted right now.’
The video ends with Krista waking up the next day saying that all she could think about was the strawberries, and that it’s ‘not a dream, it’s freaking real’.
This is the same shock that was seen on the face of TikToker 31toni, who also did the strawberry experiment.
It didn’t even take 30 minutes for bugs to start appearing in the salted water she was soaking the berries in, and she spotted worms and creepy-crawlies galore.
‘Shut the f**k up. I see a bug already. I know you y’all see that,’ she shouts in the video.
‘That’s another one. That s**t is high-key gross. I think he is even holding a smaller bug in his hand.’
The videos have sparked a massive trend, with people trying out different rinses to see how much gunk comes out of their store-bought strawbs.
On Facebook, Lauren McKenzie Gambrell said: ‘After nearly 25 years of living, TikTok taught me how to properly wash strawberries. They are FILLED with tiny bugs and tons of dirt!!’
Using salt, vinegar, and water, Lauren soaked hers for five minutes, showing the water afterwards full of dirt and critters.
As it turns out, these bugs are totally normal to find in fruit (even if they scare you or look gross) and are also harmless.
For example, aphids – small sap-sucking bugs – are not just common in strawberries, but pretty much every fruit-bearing plant.
You can’t get rid of most harmless pests in fruits, as it would mean spraying with chemicals that also damage other insects, which are crucial to pollination.
Local councils will normally ask you not to report insects like this on fruit or veg, instead contacting the manufacturer if you’re worried.
Greenwich council defines insects as ‘something being on the food which comes naturally from the product itself or its surrounding environment’, and highlights that – as they’re not at all harmful – there’s no need to get in touch with the Food Standards Authority or their food hygiene team.
That said, it’s not exactly what you want in your fruit salad, and you’ll never be able to unsee those TikToks.
So perhaps next time be extra vigilant when giving your five-a-day a wash.
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Get in touch at MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/21/tiktok-clip-shows-bugs-worms-living-strawberries-12735762/
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