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Maggots in strawberries ...
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amother
OP


 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 4:19 pm
I don't go on the social media app tiktok, but my friend sent me a video of someone putting salt in water with strawberries in it to get bugs out. In the video a giant maggot came out and of course I was freaking out. Now the media is talking about it (the video is not fake ) . There was an article discussing it (I'll try to find it )... Why that happened and how washing strawberries is usually sufficient but sometimes maggots live deep in the strawberry.

Then it went to say "it doesn't harm you to eat a worm now and then" lol

So I know halachly I was told to wash strawberries by soaking it, cutting the top off and if there is a whole to cut it in half... (And rub it) But if all this is true.... Uhhhh

Doesn anyone know anything else about this by the kosher organizations lol. That maggot video was sooooo nasty ...
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amother
Coffee


 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 4:21 pm
Many people don't eat strawberries because it's almost impossible to check and clean properly.
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Mama Bear




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 4:41 pm
Yeah I was rolling my eyes, we stopped eating fresh strawberries a long time ago bc of bugs. We only eat frozen.
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jeweled




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 4:53 pm
Are there not bugs in frozen strawberries? Or do they just freeze to death?
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amother
Coffee


 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 4:54 pm
jeweled wrote:
Are there not bugs in frozen strawberries? Or do they just freeze to death?


The frozen strawberry companies check and wash them with a mashgiach. They make sure it's done properly. Some companies even peel the strawberries.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 5:33 pm
amother [ Coffee ] wrote:
The frozen strawberry companies check and wash them with a mashgiach. They make sure it's done properly. Some companies even peel the strawberries.

Where do you hear that? I have never heard such a thing. Washed yes, but not checked and peeled.
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malki2




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 5:40 pm
seeker wrote:
Where do you hear that? I have never heard such a thing. Washed yes, but not checked and peeled.


I saw a video of a mashgiach who washed strawberries and then showed worms crawling out of a few strawberries in a few different packages. The worms are camouflaged to look like the little things next to the seeds.
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amother
OP


 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 5:56 pm
amother [ Coffee ] wrote:
Many people don't eat strawberries because it's almost impossible to check and clean properly.


Genuinally speaking I never knew this... In my community they just wash them thoroughly...under OU, CRC etc.
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chicco




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 5:59 pm
The reason the frozen ones are accepted as kosher is because the problem with eating bugs is eating an entire bug. The flash freezing process basically ensures that any bug will explode and 'worst case scenario' you would only eat part of a bug. Makes you feel better about the whole situation, no?
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amother
Chocolate


 

Post Fri, May 22 2020, 6:09 pm
I understood that the reason we eat frozen strawberries is because the are checked or greenhouse grown
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 23 2020, 4:44 pm
amother [ Chocolate ] wrote:
I understood that the reason we eat frozen strawberries is because the are checked or greenhouse grown


This makes no sense. What magic does a mashgiach know, that they are keeping a secret from the average housewife? Do bugs only show up if you are a man with a beard? Besides, do you think they check Every Single Strawberry? No, they only have to check a certain percentage of them, to declare that the lot is kosher. What percentage of bugs is OK with you?

You can grow strawberries in a greenhouse and eat them fresh. Just soak them with a bit of salt, top them and cut them in half. If you check each one, you are doing 99% more checking that the frozen fruit companies are doing, guaranteed.

BTW, I eat fresh broccoli, and I check it a lot more thoroughly than an underpaid factory worker, IMO.
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amother
Powderblue


 

Post Sat, May 23 2020, 10:24 pm
It's a scam. It's a way for frozen food companies to profit by scaring us into thinking we cant wash a strawberry.
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saltandvinegar




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, May 23 2020, 10:26 pm
Download the CRC app on your phone. They update it weekly and there's an easy guide for each fruit and vegetable and how to kasher them properly.
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amother
Purple


 

Post Sat, May 23 2020, 11:34 pm
Bodek frozen strawberries (maybe there are some other ones) are grown in a way to avoid bugs.

Most companies are not, and the hechsher doesn't mean that it is checked to be bug-free.
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amother
Aubergine


 

Post Sat, May 23 2020, 11:40 pm
According to the CRC, any frozen berries may be used, even without blending. The way they are processed makes the bugs a non-issue (I believe as mentioned earlier in this thread the bugs basically explode in the freezing process and are no longer halachically problematic). We never pay a premium for the "kosher" frozen berries since we rely on the CRC for all kashrus related halacha. However, this does NOT apply to all frozen produce. They say that most produce with infestation problems require a hechsher even when frozen.
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amother
cornflower


 

Post Sun, May 24 2020, 12:36 am
Bodek check samples after washing to make sure that the washing does a job good enough!
If strawberries are very infested to start with, that means they will reject the enire lot, because they might not be clean even after washing.
It's not common at all to find maggots in strawberries, you're looking for thrips and you can find maggots in literally any (usually rotten, but not always) food!
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pgk




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 24 2020, 1:46 am
Ok so here it goes... I cut open my boded frozen strawberry only to discover an entire worm inside. I spoke to mashgiach he told em their process ensures no bugs on the outside (guess that’s where the really tiny bugs hide) but no way of really ensuring there’s nothing on the inside, although they supposedly look for strawberries that look mushy or suspect. I also thought they were grown hydroponically cut apparently not.
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amother
Smokey


 

Post Thu, May 28 2020, 4:16 pm
Obvious consult your LOR for your own observance and check the kashrut agencies' sites for checking instructions, but this made me feel better about that strawberry video. It sounds like that kind of infestation is rare:

https://www.thekitchn.com/stra.....43049
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 28 2020, 4:43 pm
I took aside a few of my strawberries and soaked them in saltwater and nothing crawled out. Doesn't prove anything really but. It certainly affected the taste so good thing I did the rest with my usual fruit wash.
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das




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 28 2020, 4:47 pm
FranticFrummie wrote:
This makes no sense. What magic does a mashgiach know, that they are keeping a secret from the average housewife? Do bugs only show up if you are a man with a beard? Besides, do you think they check Every Single Strawberry? No, they only have to check a certain percentage of them, to declare that the lot is kosher. What percentage of bugs is OK with you?

You can grow strawberries in a greenhouse and eat them fresh. Just soak them with a bit of salt, top them and cut them in half. If you check each one, you are doing 99% more checking that the frozen fruit companies are doing, guaranteed.

BTW, I eat fresh broccoli, and I check it a lot more thoroughly than an underpaid factory worker, IMO.


I dont think you understand how teh bug free produce industry works.

Underpaid factory workers are not checking broccoli. they are grown in greenhouses with extreme measures taken to ensure bugs cant get in. Only samples are checked to ensure the batches are bug free. The same for many other bug free produce.
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