Source: www.orkin.com
You’ve probably asked yourself whether you should throw out that sandwich after a fly has landed on it and if you decide not to, you probably still have that nagging feeling while eating it. So what should you do?
While flies do have a role to play in decomposing waste, pollinating plants, being food for animals and other insects and even helping disinfect animal wounds, they are a real annoyance in the home and none so much as the common house fly, also known as the filth fly.
House flies transit pathogens on their feet and body and leave behind their pathogen loaded footprints on food. They also leave their faeces on food. They also vomit on food – gross!!!
To make matters worse, newly-hatched maggots can feed on decaying organic matter before becoming an adult fly several days later. These adult flies have a one-month lifespan and many of them lay hundreds of eggs during that span.
The risk of health concerns stemming from flies goes up in rural areas because they have a higher population of these insects. They are also more likely to have been in contact with animal waste and carcasses.
So if flies had enough time to walk around on your food, chances are they had time to vomit, suck up and defecate on it too. You’d rather be safe than sorry, throw the food out in this case and make sure you’re keeping these pests out of your kitchen and home with your retractable screen doors.
Source: http://theconversation.com/should-i-throw-away-food-once-a-fly-has-landed-on-it-50895