We all know that flies are disgusting creatures. We want them as far away as possible — especially from our food. After all, they can spit and poop on our food, making it unsafe and potentially dangerous to consume. But the nightmare doesn’t stop there. Flies can lay eggs on our food too.
Flies do lay eggs on food
Yes, flies can lay eggs on food. But this doesn’t mean you should be paranoid and seriously inspect every food item in your home. They are not likely to spread eggs on the food you are attending to at the moment.
- Flies lay eggs on spoiled, rotten, or unattended food. The food items you should be concerned about are those that are spoiled, rotten, or unattended for a long time. Flies like to lay their eggs directly on food items because they want their maggots to instantly have access to resources when they are born. This gives them the nutrients they need to develop into adult flies. Spoiled, rotten, and unattended food items around your home are perfect candidates.
- Flies lay eggs on other food sources like garbage cans. Remember that there are also resources in your garbage cans. They come in the form of drink residues, food crumbs, and leftovers. Many times, these food items are also spoiled, rotten, or unattended to, making them incredibly attractive to flies looking for places to lay their eggs. Garbage cans also offer warmth and safety to pests, making them even more ideal nesting spots.
- Flies lay eggs on organic matter like animal corpses and feces. Flies are not very picky when it comes to food. They can consume any kind of organic matter available, including animal corpses and feces. This is part of the reason why you always see fly larvae (also known as maggots) on dead animals in graphic movies.
What happens when you accidentally eat fly eggs
It’s important to know where flies lay their eggs. This is because accidentally eating fly eggs can have negative consequences for your health. Here are some of the things that can happen if you accidentally eat fly eggs.
- Nothing will happen if you are a generally healthy human. Flies like to stay in filthy places, so it’s easy to assume that their eggs are filthy too. This is partly true, but if you are a healthy human being, nothing will likely happen to you if you accidentally consume them. You can’t say the same thing for the fly eggs though. They are going to die inside your body.
- You can suffer from intestinal myiasis. There are some cases where the fly eggs don’t die. They may survive in your gastrointestinal tract, resulting in a condition called intestinal myiasis. Most patients who suffer from this condition are asymptomatic. But some suffer from abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. Patients may also see maggots in their poop for a time as they release the fly eggs from their bodies.
- You can suffer from food poisoning. Intestinal myiasis seems like the stuff of nightmares, but the fly eggs are more likely to die and not cause any serious harm to a healthy human being. But why are there fly eggs in your food anyway? It’s likely that the food you just consumed is already spoiled, rotten, or unattended for a long time. Eating spoiled or rotten food can result in food poisoning, giving you a variety of symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.
How to get rid of fly eggs
Even if fly eggs are not likely to harm you, you still don’t want them around. You don’t want the health risks associated with fly infestations. Flies are carriers of numerous disease-causing bacteria, such as e.coli.
- Use insecticides or repellents. There are commercial fly control products you can buy in the market. The most common ones come in the form of insecticides and repellents. And they usually come in sprays. Simply spray the insecticides or repellents on the areas where you see fly eggs. But before using the products, make sure to read their instructions for safe and proper use. After all, they have toxic ingredients that repel or kill insects and their eggs. These ingredients can be harmful to you and your family if you use them carelessly.
- Pour boiling water. If you don’t like using toxic ingredients, you can try home remedies instead. They use natural ingredients that are already available in your kitchen, like basil, cayenne pepper, and vinegar. And the most natural home remedy you can try is boiling water. Simply pour boiling water to the areas with fly eggs. The heat is often enough to immediately kill them.
- Use brute force. Fly eggs look like small grains of rice. They are white and oval. They are not exactly the most sturdy objects in nature. You can easily get rid of them with brute force. You can use a solid object to crush them. This is the ideal method for you if you can’t be bothered with buying toxic chemicals or mixing home remedies in your kitchen. But it can be a little too violent for those who want to get rid of fly infestations more courteously.
Stop flies laying eggs on food
Flies do lay eggs on food. But that’s not the only disgusting thing they do on the resources we consume. They spit and poop on our food, making them incredibly dangerous to consume. Flies are just disgusting creatures in general, and you wouldn’t want them around you and your family.
Here are some things you can do to prevent flies from thriving on your property:
- Keep doors and windows closed
- Put your food in cabinets, containers, and refrigerators
- If you have a garden, pick up fallen, ripe, and overripe fruits and vegetables
- If you have a pet, clean up their urine and feces
- Don’t let garbage cans overflow, especially the ones that have food items in them
- Seal all cracks, gaps, and holes that may serve as passageways to flies
If flies are not attracted to your property, you are less likely to deal with their eggs.