I saw a tiny maggot in my just bought batch of dried fruits (dates)!! How do you get rid of them?

Question

I would cook them and eat them if I did eat them now because they grossed me out, but I wouldn't want to waste the dried fruit because they seem high quality and I paid a fortune for them at the so called French Market.

Answer 1

Well, as gross and unappetizing as it is to find living things in your food- the presence of a living bug proves that they do not contain pesticides. As much as we would like to think our food is free of such things, the sad truth is none of it is. All of your food, if inspected closely enough, would reveal some sort of living creature, in egg form if nothing else. Anyone who ever lived in the south of the US can tell you of discovering wiggly flour or cake mixes- crackers and the like.

You can of course, opt to simply throw it out. If you can bring yourself to it, I'd suggest a quick trip to the freeze. That will effectively kill anything that has hatched and prevent any more from hatching. Then you can simply brush them off or pick them out. I know- then you still have to face eating them- but, maggots are also very clean creatures, believe it or not. They just prefer to eat decaying things. Once you have removed the dates, I'd suggest a quick rinse and a dry, and then cooking as you had originally planned.
I used to do food inspection when I was active duty military, and had the fortune/misfortune to get a tour of an FDA facility. You don't really want to know all the details, and I prefer not to remember all of them- except to say that there are no bug free foods. In fact, if the bug can eat it and survive- you can do the same. Organic foods, grown without pesticides, tout their good points but fail to address the obvious. Without pesticides, the bugs are a given. Consumers used to foods without extra passengers often get a nasty shock in this area. The FDA routinely checks food products for insects, and there are even standards on the number which are permitted. Gross, but true.
If the package is truly infested, you can and should return it for a refund. But if we are only talking a few critters, you can remove them and safely cook and eat the dates. In the future, I suggest you may want to place dried foods like this in the freezer for a day to insure you don't find "friends". The same thing goes for any dry food you plan to keep for more than a month or so, things like flour, cake mixes, etc, should spend it in the freezer- expecially during warm weather. Cooking the dates will ensure that any bacteria are killed, and it will be safe for you to eat. The bugs are sometimes frightening, but they are not fatal. Just unappetizing.

Answer 2

More then likely it was a Dried Fruit Moth Caterpillar and not a maggot. They are not harmful and certainly less disgusting then maggots... If it makes you feel better use them in something that is baked....
I would probably cut into a few to ease my mind... however they are not suppose to be able to bore into the fruit...

Answer 3

Take Them Back to the French market and ask them what they are going to do.
It’s not healthy in any way some fly has laid the eggs for maggots to be in your fruit.
Don't Eat Them.

Answer 4

well as my dad used to say.. "finding a full worm in an apple is better than finding a half worm" hahaha!... just chunk em in the garbage.. most fruit vendors like that have adopted an attitude of "fruit comes with risks of worms" anyways. I live in the middle east and dates are a staple here, and around 90% of the time, you'll find some sort of worm in them, but usually only on one piece, we just chunk that piece and move on.. otherwise you'd be throwing out every single package youve bought.

Answer 5

Maggots = The Bin

Answer 6

Probably won't do you any harm, lots of fruits have small fly larvae in them - think of collecting blackberries they often have small fly larvae in them, as do a lot of wild mushrooms
if you don't fancy them, take them back to where you bought them, providing you bought them recently - if you didn't it maybe that they have become contaminated since you bought them.
If you can't take them back, the suggestion of freezing them and washing them seems a good one

Answer 7

Watch yourself you these French might charge you for extra eatables in the fruit. Oooo Yuk.

Answer 8

Go BACK to the French market and get it sorted. Or at the very least - get your money back.

Answer 9

1. Open trash can
2. Drop dates into trash can
3. Don't buy dates from the same store again

Answer 10

Put it in the freezer, let them freeze. Thaw the dates out and wash the dates.