You Might Be Eating Bugs Without Even Realizing It

(KNUE-FM) Believe it or not, at least 13 foods you may be eating 'secretly' contain insects. We say 'secretly' simply because that's probably not what you'd ever expect when eating some of these rather 'common' foods.

Not Many Texas Menus Include Insects—At Least, Not on Purpose

Thankfully, there aren't many places that offer insects as a culinary option. At least, I'm not aware of this. But I guess you never know, right? That said, there's a good chance you and I have consumed insects without even realizing it. After all, we hear horror stories of people who will consume various spiders in their sleep throughout their lives.

How Do Insects End Up in the Foods We Eat?

I'm unsure if that's true, but I hope not. Most of us have probably accidentally swallowed a wayward aphid at least once. But I bet you never expected to eat insect parts in your peanut butter. How on earth do insects end up in some of the foods we eat regularly?

READ MORE: The Chilling Legends of Tyler’s ‘Werewolf Road’

Here's a little nightmare fodder: Did you know that, according to a post shared on the Scientific American blog, we consume up to two pounds of bugs, such as flies and maggots, every year?

The FDA Actually Allows a Certain Amount of Insects in Food

As gross as that may be to consider, a story by Reader's Digest reports, 'the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) actually permits a small number of insects in food products because it would be impossible to filter them all out.'

When we consider the vast scale of farming and processing food for millions of people, it would be a monumental task to ensure that every single bug was removed. Yikes. OK, here are 13 common foods we eat that could quite possibly contain bug parts: