Question:
Is there any issue with bugs flying or crawling into food that is either being eaten outside or kept outside?
Even though it would seem that any bug that managed to make it into the food would easily be able to escape when the food is being eaten, this does not seem to be the case. Only a few days ago, I was holding a book on my lap and noticed that a tiny crawling insect was between the pages.
Answer:
Hello,
You are bringing up an important point. We do have to be carful about bugs and flies that can crawl into food when they are outside. Just because it climbed in doesn’t mean it was successful at climbing out. It also might have gotten trapped inside, is hiding inside the food for protection or died. In fact, there is a prominent authority on insect infestation and halacha, who says that there is a certain type of fly, that likes proteins, and if it smells a piece of meat or fish, it can fly to it from half mile away. It will lay eggs on the meat, and when the person eats it they may be eating the eggs of this fly. Therefore, he recommends that all proteins should sty covered, or at least not be left uncovered and unsupervised. The issue if eating bugs is often overlooked because we don’t notice that some foods have bugs inside of them.
Best wishes
