Spring and summer may herald warm weather and sunshine, but it also harks the arrival of irritating flies that try to land on your food.
And it turns out there are some very good reasons why most people try to shoo them away before they can land on a dish.
Though many people just think they are a minor annoyance, it turns out the insects are actually loaded with germs that could pose a serious threat to your health.
Not only that, a fly will almost always vomit on your food when it lands on it.
Flies on average carry more than 200 forms of harmful bacteria thanks to the disgusting things they tend to land on, such as rotting food and fecal matter, a pest control expert has revealed.
It's the thousands of tiny hairs on the arms and legs of a fly that mean those dangerous germs can transfer to your food if a fly lands on it.
'They only need to touch your food for a second for their legs or the tiny hairs all over their bodies to transfer germs from all those nasty things they eat onto what you are eating,' said Ron Harrison, an entomologist and technical services director at Orkin pest control.
'And since flies can transfer serious, contagious diseases like cholera, dysentery, and typhoid, it is probably best if you avoid eating things that a fly lands on.'
That's not to mention what a fly actually does when it lands on your food.
You may have heard that the creatures relieve their bowels when they land on their food.
But what they actually do is just as disgusting.
Flies will almost always vomit on your food if they land on it.
The insects can't chew, so they eject digestives enzymes onto the food before eating it up again.
So next time a fly lands on your food, it's best to cut off the part it has touched and just throw it away to avoid consuming the insect's germs.
Flies vomit every time they land on something?!
ReplyDeleteThe local Chabad shluchim here do some public vomiting too.
But only on Purim and Simchat Torah.
And how many cases of "cholera, dysentery, and typhoid," have occurred in the US of late????? This article is an example of something planted by Orkin to bolster their pest control business ahead of the season. Healthy people will not get sick from incidental contact of a fly. You are exposed to thousands of microorganisms every day and your body knows how to handle it.
ReplyDeleteJust shows the beauty of Kashrus.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 11:06 AM,
ReplyDeleteI agree. Also our immune systems don't thrive in sterile environments. One of those use it or lose it situations.
And kashrut isn't even an issue unless you're dealing with a VERY big fly.
My mother had typhus this was 3 years after she was liberated from auswitz i always wandered was it a leftover from aushwitz you answered my question most probably it was from a fly tainted food my father was always hyper about not to eat anything that a fly landed on he even went so far as to throw out the food in europe as a child i remember then food was very precious it was in a communist country
ReplyDeleteSure the chabad shluchim are being mekayem a din in shulchan aruch on pirim while satmarers are groping girls dressed as boys kminhagam bakodesh
ReplyDelete"chabad shluchim are being mekayem a din in shulchan aruch on pirim"
ReplyDeleteYes, fine conduct from Chabad. Vomiting rabbis.
I made sure all of my young children saw it.
The rabbi with his head in the trash can. Puking.
I remind them and say: That's Chabad, kids. Blowing chunky for their Rebbe.
Remember to contact Chabad when your offsprings don't follow your way or for a meal or Minyan when you're holidaying in Congo Etc. Be positive
DeleteI don't get it. Don't insects crawl over growing plants and fruits? Why then aren't all produce considered vectors? And isn't honey nothing else but bee barf?
ReplyDeleteIs the author of this post scrupulous when eating strawberries, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and other plants that are known to be infested with the creatures themselves, if not for their spoors?
Yisroli,
ReplyDeleteMy kids don't need to go in MY way. I raised good kids with Torah values and common sense, so they can go THEIR way. It could be better than my way. Hey, maybe I'll go their way.
Meals, minyans, holidays? Seriously, like vacations and trips? We don't do a lot of that. Well, none really.
Ayin gemara end of Gittin about a person who throws out the water everytime a fly lands in it.
ReplyDeleteUgh, that picture! Just what I need to see just after Pesach.
ReplyDelete