Excuse my naive question, but is this something I should worry about at all in buying figs? I don’t mind the idea of eating insects but I’m trying to understand how noticeable this would be from a textural/visual/taste perspective.
The figs you generally buy at a supermarket are usually of a self-fertile variety of the common fig (or are sprayed with a specific hormone to induce fruiting) but almost all of the 800+ other species of figs have their own corresponding species of fig wasps that pollinate just that one species of fig. Luckily for you these wasps are tiny and you're very unlikely to notice them. Just a minor protein boost to your fruit
With fresh figs, you're supposed to turn them inside out when you eat them. If you really wanted, I guess you could pick out the wasp if it's still noticeably intact.
The wasp will most likely be already dissolved. But it's still a good idea to open the fig before eating it, to check for mold.
Yes, but you probably don't want the tiny stinger in your digestive tract.
fig wasps (and most wasps) don't have stingers
What about the caterpillars and beetles the author found?
As the author said, the insects probably aren’t a concern, but the fungus on the other hand… maybe?
And we all know what happens when you ingest flour that has been contaminated with cordyceps.
Really? How concerned should I be, I just ate some cordyceps yesterday, what problem would that cause?
There is a new documentary about this on hbo
It's a joke about the plot of The Last of Us, which pins the zombie outbreak on a fictional cordyceps variant that zombifies people (inspired by ones infecting ants or spiders).
I know, I was also joking, and I mistakenly assumed that would be obvious because who would write, "oh no I just ate some cordyceps!!" but then I looked it up, and I guess you can in fact eat those, and people do, so the joke is on me.
Cordiceps is sometimes used as a supplement as it is one of the few natural substances that increase the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max).