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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To never eat broccoli again?

68 replies

ToastyFingers · 04/12/2018 21:06

Went to make dinner earlier and my broccoli is absolutely covered in these hideous bugs! Some of them are very much alive and wriggling. Gahhh.

I can't bin it because my bins don't get collected for over a week and I don't want the buggers to spread to anywhere else. I'm also concerned about the rest of the fruit bowl. Envy

OP posts:
AjasLipstick · 04/12/2018 21:44

My God what a lot of hysteria! Bleach and boiling water indeed! It's aphids...that's all. They won't "spread"

Flowerpot2005 · 04/12/2018 21:45

FFS it's one stem of broccoli, take up knitting OP.

AllTakenSoRubbishUsername · 04/12/2018 21:48

Ironically I think the plastic is the problem - it's supposed to keep it clean but in reality it's like a lovely little greenhouse for the bugs that are probably there anyway. Nothing wrong with buying unpackaged broccoli and just washing it!

Minimammoth · 04/12/2018 21:51

Wash it well, cook it, eat it. I have home grown broccoli, it gets aphids caterpillar etc, just wash ‘em off.

msnowtybach · 04/12/2018 21:58

For the love of God! Just wash it ffs.

incallthebloodytime · 04/12/2018 22:02

This thread is funny 😂 it shows up which of us live in flats and don't have gardens or allotments

And forgot we ever did!

christmaspuddingyumyumyum · 04/12/2018 22:03

Return it!

FuckBrussel · 04/12/2018 22:07

Seconding what @Sadik said. Soak it in water with plenty of salt in it for about five minutes, then give it a good rinse in clean water, then carry on as normal. It's what we do with veggies out of our own garden, and we're still here.

QueenUnicorn · 04/12/2018 22:08

Meh, just wash and eat. I'd rather bugs on my food than chemicals. It surprises me how many people will eat the flesh of a dead animal but freak out at the thought of eating a bug.

dontticklethetoad · 04/12/2018 22:08

We grow our own veg. I once steamed a load of cauliflower to make cauliflower cheese and when I took the lid off the steamer, there were loads of little steamed caterpillars.

elephantoverthehill · 04/12/2018 22:11

Could you just open the bag outside and let the bugs fly away? said in a very small voice

Haggisfish · 04/12/2018 22:13

This is ridiculous! Just open it and throw on a garden or soil somewhere. Bleach or boil it?! Feed the bloody birds with it!

noraclavicle · 04/12/2018 22:16

Why in God's name does broccoli need to be wrapped in bloody plastic anyway? Bloody supermarkets - it's insane!

BMW6 · 04/12/2018 22:16

Lol, no need to bin it! They are just tiny aphids that have become trapped in the plastic (next time buy broccoli unwrapped).

Open the bag outside so they fly away, rinse well, cook and eat.

HariboLecter · 04/12/2018 22:19

OP use this an example to Co-Op about needlessly wrapping veg in plastic.

Newsername · 04/12/2018 22:20

Am I the only one who can’t see bugs? Unless they’re crawling maggots I’d just wash that. You’re going to boil it in 100°C water, so anything that resembles a bug will die!

WidowTwonky · 04/12/2018 22:24

As an aside...would you really consider co-op ‘naice’? I thought it was more corner shop esque. Absolutely nothing wrong with corner shop-esque tho

circleoflife · 04/12/2018 22:25

I got one like that in Ocado the other week. Got it refunded but I'd already cooked a bit of it and given it to the baby

Got a living maggot inside a red pepper from Sainsbury's once, involuntarily flung it out of the window Blush

PickAChew · 04/12/2018 22:29

Either wash it and cook it or just bin it, like a grown up, if it's so offputting. It's hardly covered in cockroaches.

And live bugs on veg are a good sign that it hasn't been doused in more pesticides than necessary.

elephantoverthehill · 04/12/2018 22:32

What is worse than finding a maggot in your apple?

Half a maggot.

Food grows outside and other creatures want to eat it. What comes in or outside fruit and veg is a lot better to 'stomach' that what can live in meat or fish. And I'm not vegetarian.

cheesemongery · 04/12/2018 22:34

You want to buy Broccoli that hasn't been doused in pesticides or grow your own - the poor caterpillars soon float to the top of the pan.

Grace212 · 04/12/2018 22:37

"Just open it and throw on a garden or soil somewhere."

love the way so many MNers assume we all have gardens. If I wanted to chuck that somewhere, it would be the local park..I don't think anyone would be happy with that!

OP, I'd just wash and eat.

empmalswa · 04/12/2018 22:38

The biggest thing that stuck out on this thread is how you rate the co op as 'naice'

Meckity1 · 04/12/2018 22:39

I buy frozen broccoli. Most frozen veg is actually fresher, being frozen quickly after picking rather than hanging around in warehouses before shipping to stores. There is also less waste, it doesn't go off and if there are little buglets, they are well and truly gone to their maker and just need rinsing off.

Mynydd · 04/12/2018 22:42

I often find slugs in my veg drawer in the fridge Grin we get a weekly veg box that's full of extra protein! It's not a problem, only maggots render food too disgusting to eat. For anything else, just rinse and carry on.

It's sad actually that we're at this point where we would bleach and destroy perfectly good food just because it has a few bugs on it

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