# [2006] Found WORM in my chocolate!



## bhrungo (May 10, 2006)

Today I was eating some chocolates that had been in our pantry for a few months.  I ate a few Dove chocolates, then I went and ate a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.  I was in the process of opening another peanut butter cup and noticed a little white worm wiggling around in the wrapper!  It was alive, white with pink on each end!  I immediately threw it on the counter but then picked it back up to inspect it.  Then I opened a few other wrappers to look for more worms.  Didn't find anymore.  I feel sick to my stomach wondering if I possibly ate a worm or two....I'm also wondering what type of worm this is and where in the heck it came from!  Hope I don't get sick.  I threw the entire bag of chocolates away, even sealed bags.  UGH!  :annoyed:
My husband said I shouldn't have eaten the chocolates anyway, since I am supposed to be on a low-carb diet! haha


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## Jestjoan (May 10, 2006)

I can relate. Years ago, I opened a Hershey with almonds bar while driving. When I started to pop the candy into my mouth, my daughter screamed for me to stop. It turned out there were worms.

It seems that Walgreen's had candy that was beyond the date it should be sold......I think the wormy things were from the almonds in the candy bar.


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## Gadabout (May 10, 2006)

bhrungo said:
			
		

> Today I was eating some chocolates that had been in our pantry for a few months.  I ate a few Dove chocolates, then I went and ate a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.  I was in the process of opening another peanut butter cup and noticed a little white worm wiggling around in the wrapper!  It was alive, white with pink on each end!  I immediately threw it on the counter but then picked it back up to inspect it.  Then I opened a few other wrappers to look for more worms.  Didn't find anymore.  I feel sick to my stomach wondering if I possibly ate a worm or two....I'm also wondering what type of worm this is and where in the heck it came from!  Hope I don't get sick.  I threw the entire bag of chocolates away, even sealed bags.  UGH!  :annoyed:
> My husband said I shouldn't have eaten the chocolates anyway, since I am supposed to be on a low-carb diet! haha



Probably moth larvae. Think of them as protein.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 10, 2006)

Not to worry.  Most of the red and pink dyes used in food are made from extract of crushed bugs.  (True.)  One little worm won't hurt.

Who knows?  In some cultures that worm might have made that a premium chocolate!!


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## Fern Modena (May 10, 2006)

You're sick 



			
				T_R_Oglodyte said:
			
		

> Who knows?  In some cultures that worm might have made that a premium chocolate!!


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## nickis (May 10, 2006)

SSSSSShhhhhhhush don't tell everyone they will all want one LOL


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## Gadabout (May 10, 2006)

It's no worse than "cat poop" coffee....

http://www.cbc.ca/story/news/national/2002/09/13/Consumers/catcoffee_020913.html


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## Azjim66 (May 10, 2006)

I remember reading a long time ago that there is some allowable percentage of insect material in chocolate.


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## Gadabout (May 10, 2006)

Jim and Cindy said:
			
		

> I remember reading a long time ago that there is some allowable percentage of insect material in chocolate.




Just about all food has insect material in it--if people looked at all their food under a microscope, they probably wouldn't want to eat a lot of it.


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## DonM (May 10, 2006)

Fern Modena said:
			
		

> You're sick




I don't know if he is or isn't - but he makes a good point. Many cultures (including Europeans) enjoy eating honey that contains honeycomb filled with the bee larva & pupae. It's considered a delicacy, and it has a lot of protein. When bears attack bee colonies they are more interested in the larva & pupae than the honey (of course they'll eat both)


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 11, 2006)

We've clearly overlooked something here.  Worms in chocolate would obviously not occur if RCI Points members weren't able to raid Weeks inventory.


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## Fern Modena (May 11, 2006)




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## Icc5 (May 11, 2006)

Happens lots of times is warm weather.  If you look closly you will see tiny holes in wrapper.  Common problem in grocery stores.
Bart


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## Keitht (May 11, 2006)

bhrungo said:
			
		

> I was in the process of opening another peanut butter cup and noticed a little white worm wiggling around in the wrapper!



Keep quiet about it or everybody will want one.



			
				bhrungo said:
			
		

> My husband said I shouldn't have eaten the chocolates anyway, since I am supposed to be on a low-carb diet! haha



You should have thrown away the chocolate and kept the worm as that would be protein


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## ctreelmom (May 11, 2006)

Oh now come on--if it had been a bottle of tequilla, this wouldn't have been a problem, now, would it? :whoopie: 

Just kidding, I would've died right there.  AND thrown out the entire contents of my pantry!


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## Patri (May 11, 2006)

bhrungo said:
			
		

> Today I was eating some chocolates that had been in our pantry for a few months.  I ate a few Dove chocolates, then I went and ate a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.



That's your problem. In our house, chocolates never last more than a few days. Especially DOVE. But really, this is a gross story. I've never heard of worms in chocolate and I'll certainly be more careful examining packages in the store. Is no food sacred?


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## iiderman (May 11, 2006)

This is most likely an Indian meal moth larvae... A couple of years ago I found a whole nest of them in an opened box of cookies in my pantry! 

It was the most disgusting thing I ever experienced!   As a result of my discovery I almost needed to get therapy!!!   I threw away everything in my pantry (and I mean everything!)  Called an exterminator who recommended moth traps.. He said this happens in 40 percent of households and the owners never even detect them.  I couldn't eat or get the sight of those creepy crawlies out of my mind for weeks!  

The traps worked great and I think we got rid of all of them.  I still jump if I see something flying in my kitchen thinking it's an adult month looking for a place to lay it's eggs!  To this day, I will not store any unsealed foods in the pantry.  In our house everything (even stuff like pasta, crackers, rice) go in the fridge.. 

If I were you, I would go carefully through your entire pantry and make sure this was an isolated problem.


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## MusicMan (May 11, 2006)

> Oh now come on--if it had been a bottle of tequilla, this wouldn't have been a problem, now, would it?



Technically, I think the worm is in Mezcal....


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## Jestjoan (May 11, 2006)

I think it was some kind of larva.........


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## kjgrain (May 11, 2006)

Here I have been going around all my life thinking my mom was telling me some kind of story when she said that she had found worms in a candy bar.  I thought she was just trying to get me not to eat chocolate.

Go figure my mother actually knew what she was talking about, who would of known?


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## gmarine (May 11, 2006)

MusicMan (Formerly JP) said:
			
		

> Technically, I think the worm is in Mezcal....



This is true. Tequila does not have a worm in it.


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## CSB (May 11, 2006)

I read a whole discussion on moth infestations in people kitchens just recently in another forum. It seems that you can bring these things home with you from the store unknowingly. Best advice - especially in warm climates is to put things like flour, rice, etc in the freezer for 2 weeks to kill the larva.


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## Don (May 11, 2006)

Gadabout said:
			
		

> It's no worse than "cat poop" coffee....
> 
> http://www.cbc.ca/story/news/national/2002/09/13/Consumers/catcoffee_020913.html



That's a new one on me!  I've heard that the most expensive coffee beans are "harvested" from monkey poop.

And really, if you were n "Survivor" you would have to fight someone off to get the worm.


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## nickis (May 11, 2006)

Just to make you feel really sick it wasn't a worm it was a MAGGOT lol


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## Courts (May 11, 2006)

Jestjoan said:
			
		

> It seems that Walgreen's had candy that was beyond the date it should be sold.......


I unknowingly bought milk from Walgreen's that was expired....too trusting...but no more.

In military, we had biscuits that I thought had sesame seeds. Well, the cook said the flour comes with "bugs" very often. No biggie.


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## KarenLK (May 11, 2006)

Years ago we ran a fund raiser with individual packs of peanut M & Ms. Some of them had worms. The distributor told us that sometimes the worms are already inside the peanuts before they are ever coated with chocolate.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 11, 2006)

Courts said:
			
		

> I unknowingly bought milk from Walgreen's that was expired....too trusting...but no more.(


One time I removed the "Do not remove ths tag under penalty of the law" tag from a mattress.  

Another time I copied a video tape despite the FBI Warning.


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## Clark (May 11, 2006)

Better a worm in your chocolate than in your computer


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## Mel7706 (May 11, 2006)

Would the chocolate have tasted differently if you had not seen the worm?


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## MRSFUSSY (May 11, 2006)

Isn't anyone familiar with the old addage that "you have to eat a pound of dirt before you die?"  Bugs and dirt are pretty close.......


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## philemer (May 11, 2006)

Icc5 said:
			
		

> Happens lots of times is warm weather.  If you look closly you will see tiny holes in wrapper.  Common problem in grocery stores.
> Bart



Never seen this in Idaho. Must be a southern thing!! 

Phil


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 12, 2006)

Mel7706 said:
			
		

> Would the chocolate have tasted differently if you had not seen the worm?


Interesting question. I would think that absent the worm, the chocolate wouldn't have any sense of taste.  So, I suppose one could say that the worm's presence did make the chocolate taste differently.

But if you were eating the chocolate I don't think the chocolate would taste different, provided the worm didn't go "squish" or "crunch".


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## Htoo0 (May 12, 2006)

I've seen this before at a friend's house.  He tripped a breaker which killed the lights just as his wife was opening a Snickers.  When we restored power she screamed and had a half eaten bar with worms (moth larvae) in her hand.  Personally, I've opened both flour and cereal boxes (both opened and unopened) to have moths fly out. Of course I toss them.  Figure I eat enough of that stuff without knowing it so I can skip doing it on purpose.  When one of my nephew's was very young we broke open a geode to find it full of mud.  A few minutes later we looked over and he was eating it.  He graduates today so I guess eating mud from thousands of years ago wasn't too harmful.  (Maybe dirt wasn't as dirty back then.)


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## Tia (May 12, 2006)

Ya just read this in the news paper the other day, also in cosmetics. The article also mentioned allergies and the word _natural_ in labeling......yew. 



			
				T_R_Oglodyte said:
			
		

> Not to worry.  Most of the red and pink dyes used in food are made from extract of crushed bugs.  (True.)  One little worm won't hurt.


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## Dori (May 12, 2006)

Steve, you gave me my laugh for the day!  Thanks!

BTW, I would certainly contact the company (did you keep the little critter as proof?) and voice my concerns.  They may reimburse you or send you some fresh chocolate, hopefully without the "secret ingredient"!!

Dori


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## hoosiermarty (May 12, 2006)

I used to own three conv. food stores.   Every once in a while we would get in a batch of Reese Butter Cups with worms in them.  Then we would have to call our supplier and they would pick up all the product.   Especially, candy with peanuts will develope worms if the candy is too old.  How embarrassed I would be when a customer came back in with the candy.   I even opened one and found them first.   This happened many times over the course of four yrs.


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## Molten Ennard (Jul 21, 2021)

That's why you should always put your chocolate bar in the fridge so the worms die


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## pedro47 (Jul 21, 2021)

To the OP, have Reeses Peanut Butter Cup changed their taste???? 
The chocolate does not taste liked chocolate and the peanut butter is dry with no taste. I have not found a worm in my chocolate.  LOL.


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## DrQ (Jul 21, 2021)

Wow, this thread is a blast from the past.


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## MULTIZ321 (Jul 21, 2021)

DrQ said:


> Wow, this thread is a blast from the past.


Including some posts by the much beloved late Tugger Fern. The thread was started in 2006.

Richard


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