There Might Be Bugs In Your Fresh Strawberries — Don't Panic

You can try all the produce hacks out there and choose the most ripe strawberries at the store, but we all know it's impossible to find fruit that's entirely bug-free. Fruit and vegetables grow outside in the same open environment as bugs; while simple farming tricks and pesticides can keep off most of the bigger guys, the tiny, microscopic pests could always be there. These can be distressing to stumble upon – for example, some people occasionally find tiny worms called spotted wing drosophila inside their strawberries. Cute!

This invasive species eats strawberries from the inside out and lays its eggs inside of fruit using a serrated attachment called an ovipositor. Once they hatch, you don't know they're there until you see the inside of your strawberry. These creatures aren't found in all berries, but their presence is more common than you think. While tools are in place to detect these bugs and stop the fruit from selling, batches occasionally slip through the cracks. But there's no need to panic; there are no known health risks to consuming those common pests. If anything, we benefit by eating a little extra protein. 

While spotted wing drosophila can be found in strawberries, they're drawn to any sweet, sugary fruit, such as blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. These bugs might be one of the most unsavory to find, but dozens of other bugs can latch onto nature's candies, from aphids to lygus bugs. Luckily, you can usually clear out many of these before you take a bite. 

To make your fresh fruit as bug-free as possible, wash it thoroughly before eating. We recommend you soak strawberries instead of rinsing them and that you clean your produce with baking soda, plain water, saltwater, or a vinegar solution. These natural cleaning methods drown and kill those hidden pests. After soaking, rinse and dry your fruit.

While it would be ideal to find fresh fruit free of pests, this would require enormous pesticide use that would be detrimental to our health. And again, there's no harm in eating the tiny pests that have chosen your berries as a home, and no cleaning method fully removes all those impurities. Simply put, it's impossible to make fruit entirely bug-free — consider them a package deal. Still, rinsing fruit removes excess dirt, protective coatings, and bacteria while giving you peace of mind. We'd say the added effort is worth it.