If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably seen videos of people soaking strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries in salt water—only to watch tiny white, wiggling creatures emerge from the fruit. For many viewers, it’s enough to make them swear off berries forever. But before you toss your fruit in the trash, it helps to understand what those tiny creatures may actually be.
In many cases, they are fruit-fly larvae, including larvae of the spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii), a pest known to lay eggs in ripening soft fruit. Unlike common fruit flies that often target damaged or overripe produce, spotted wing drosophila can lay eggs in healthy-looking berries while they’re still growing. The larvae can develop inside strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, and other soft fruits. So what happens if you accidentally eat one—and should those berries immediately go in the trash?
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