Maggot Meat Spray

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM · June 15, 2012 · Volume 9

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Given their inherent resistance to food-poisoning bacteria, maggots can be used to create an antibacterial food additive to increase the safety of the meat supply.

Discuss

Transcript

The meat industry is concerned that consumers might be wary of meat sprayed with bacteria-eating viruses. “[C]onsumer acceptance of bacteriophage usage may present something of a challenge to the food industry.” If they think they’re going to have consumer acceptance issues with spreading viruses on meat, that’s nothing compared to an even more novel technique to preserve meat—the “Effect of extracted housefly pupae peptide mixture on chilled pork preservation.” Yes, that’s what you think it means; you smear a maggot mixture on the meat.

It is considered “a low-cost and simple method.” Think about it. Maggots thrive on rotting meat, yet “there have been no reports that housefly larvae have any serious diseases, indicating that they have a strong immune system.” They must be packed with some sort of antibacterial properties; otherwise they’d get infected and die themselves.

So they took maggots who were three days old, washed them, dried them—toweled them off—put them through a blender, filtered out the solids, and voilà!

“[T]he housefly can easily be produced on a large-scale with simple techniques at a low cost.” And the best part? “After the extraction of the housefly pupae peptide mixture, the maggot remains can be used as protein foodstuffs, thereby increasing [our] protein supply.” It’s a win-win!

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Serena.

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Sources

Acknowledgements

Image thanks to angeg77.

Topics

The meat industry is concerned that consumers might be wary of meat sprayed with bacteria-eating viruses. “[C]onsumer acceptance of bacteriophage usage may present something of a challenge to the food industry.” If they think they’re going to have consumer acceptance issues with spreading viruses on meat, that’s nothing compared to an even more novel technique to preserve meat—the “Effect of extracted housefly pupae peptide mixture on chilled pork preservation.” Yes, that’s what you think it means; you smear a maggot mixture on the meat.

It is considered “a low-cost and simple method.” Think about it. Maggots thrive on rotting meat, yet “there have been no reports that housefly larvae have any serious diseases, indicating that they have a strong immune system.” They must be packed with some sort of antibacterial properties; otherwise they’d get infected and die themselves.

So they took maggots who were three days old, washed them, dried them—toweled them off—put them through a blender, filtered out the solids, and voilà!

“[T]he housefly can easily be produced on a large-scale with simple techniques at a low cost.” And the best part? “After the extraction of the housefly pupae peptide mixture, the maggot remains can be used as protein foodstuffs, thereby increasing [our] protein supply.” It’s a win-win!

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Serena.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Image thanks to angeg77.

Doctor's Note

See also Viral Meat Spray. Maggots or no maggots, proper handling of fresh meat is critical; see Food Poisoning Bacteria Cross-Contamination. There also exist healthier sources of protein than maggots, and although insects are comparatively low in saturated fat, I definitely find Plant Protein Preferable. Other videos that may bug you include Cheese Mites and Maggots and Are Artificial Colors Harmful?.

And be sure to check out my associated blog posts: Why is it Legal to Sell Unsafe Meat?; Adding FDA-Approved Viruses to Meat; What Is the Healthiest Meat?; and Why Is Selling Salmonella-Tainted Chicken Still Legal?

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