Mites in broccoli LIDLs - BEWARE!

[Rendering]

TL:DR: Please check your broccoli carefully before purchasing. Please let the staff know of there are tiny mites.

A few weeks ago DH (foodie) came home shopping and immediately started preparing dinner. He started chopping the broccoli, and there before him was various sizes of mites and tiny caterpillar things. We checked the other broccoli we bought, and was the same. The broccoli otherwise looked normal.

Returned to Lidls and complained, assuming it was a one off. They gave us a refund.

Ever since we check for mites before buying and purchased mite-free broccoli 2 or 3 times. They are very tiny, about the size of a pin head, brown with visible legs. Until today...more mites (not just a few either)...I told the staff but the other broccoli are still there. I feel bad for anyone buying them and not realising but I can only complain so many times and that is just 2 stores. So here I am trying to spread a word of warning.

I'm not sure if it's exclusive to Lidls so worth checking wherever you buy your broccoli from. I'm no ecologist so I don't know what these mite things are but there was enough and variety of them to make us go 🤢

i've found mites and bugs in broccoli from all sorts of places. once a pub served us broccoli that was crawling with bugs.

so it is always worth checking

Was this after washing the veg?

I never wash my broccoli and it’s organic so goodness knows what I’ve eaten 😆

Bugs in produce?!

Who would have thought that was possible????

Thats why you wash veg before you cook it OP.

You always wash broccoli, the little bugs get in there. You do realise where broccoli comes from?

I’m sure Lidl get their broccoli from the same fields as all the other shops. Outside things sometimes have bugs on them.

Me too 🤣

Calm down, OP! This is what you wash your produce! I grow my own veg and most of it gets white fly bugs and mealy bugs on it. My red sprouts I’m growing for Christmas is currently covered in dead (as I use organic bug spray) mealy bugs, as most people’s are right now. You wash them thoroughly. Your DH’s broccoli obviously missed the water when it was packed 🤷🏼‍♀️

Yes we wash it so far as rinsing it under the tap, I mean there's a lot of surface area there so not going to be deep clean so to speak. No this is different from your bog standard bug, it was infested really. I wonder if it's where they package them now, they never used to be wrapped up. I think it's better to buy them unwrapped, perhaps wrapping them kind of encloses them and encourages a suitable environment for breeding, I don't know.

A few weeks ago DH (foodie) came home shopping and immediately started preparing dinner.

why did we know to know your dh is a “foodie”?! 😆

just wash it. You won't die.

I was going to add that he was traumatised to embellish the story but I deleted that bit 😂🤣

Ok thanks guys I guess some broccoli is more bug infested than others. It was pretty hard to wash them all out. I know I won't die but the extra protein it isn't really what you expect most of the time.

No im genuinely curious why you told
us he’s a foodie.

Does that make him more likely to notice a mite infested broccoli?

I’m not trying to diminish concerns but these bugs are what they eat. The bugs are made of broccoli.
Wash well, inspect and cook. Cooking will kill them anyway.

However, Lidl need to know so talk to the local manager. Photos would help.

Ok thanks guys I guess some broccoli is more bug infested than others.

this has only just occurred to you?

I mentioned as I was going to say he can't look at another broccoli and needs counselling now...but I deleted that bit.

My broccoli has bugs / spiders / caterpillars in it all the time.

Because I grow it in my garden....

I bring it in from my garden, WASH it, often submerge it in water (as then the caterpillars seem to swim out) then if any caterpillars get onto my plate I pick them off and eat the brocolli.

When produce is grown outside the creatures like to live in and eat them too.

Do you work for Aldi 🤣

Had some tenderstem from Lidl last night, was lovely. Presumably any bugs came out in the cooking water.

Ok so does everyone submerge their broccoli? We just rinse...perhaps that's the problem

I don’t submerge, but I’m also not that bothered by bugs. I’d just scrape them off and cook it. The cooking process would kill any bugs.

Not even rinse

True true. Ok, thank you all 🫡

I found a little live green caterpillar in my veg the other day. I was actually very pleased about it; this means that perhaps some insects are still able to survive in our awful monoculture veg growing system, and that the veg was fresh enough to entice the little fellow.

Do you know what I did? I put him outside on some plants, and I washed the veg and carried on serving it to myself and my family.

Although not ideal they wont hurt you. You should see what I shake off my veg garden produce! A blast with the hosepipe is needed for all cabbage-y stuff.

The stuff you buy with no bugs has likely had a good dose of bug killing chemicals before packaging…stuff that is in plastic is filled with CO2 to increase shelf life, maybe that suffocates them!

This is how I look at finding stuff on them. It's the ones insects and whatnot won't touch you need to swerve.