eeeewwww pleah, yucky, I'm so grossed out right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hiltonqueen]

I went to the store last week & bought a big ole' hershys bar with almonds. I was eating it on the way home & it was dark... so I didn't look at what I was eating. Well, it sort of tasted old, but still good (I'm crazy for chocolate)... when I got into my room & looked at the wrapper with the chocolate in it, I noticed what seemed to be specs of chocolate with webs "OMG", yuck I just ate that. So I wrapped what was left & set it next to my bedstand & figured that I'd write Hershy's about it. Ok, it's a week later & I opened the wrapper & there is this small cocoon like thing holding a long flat bug with antenas STILL FREAKING ALIVE.......
I just put it in a zip lock, but what do I do now???? OMG! GROSS!!

[Shancopp]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

I'd be taking it back!!! ICK!~

[ezmoney163]

I would be calling Hershey or something also take a picture of it and ewwwwwwwww, I am grossed out now. YUCK!!!!!

[hiltonqueen]

I know, it's quite disturbing... I'm gaggin eyeing the bag.

[hiltonqueen]

And I only have a regular camera, no digital... so I can't take a picture that small... but I have the real thing to send them.... eeewwwww

[MelanieAnn]

OMG!

That is awful... time to call up corporate!

[Hillbilly]

Oh gross!! :eek: I'd definately contact the corporation and the store where you purchased it.

[angelinwaiting]

:eek: :eek: I think its time to give Hershey a phone call and tell em just what you told us:eek: :eek:

[ladybugbhb]

yep, call them and the store!!!

[Ladytiger]

Oh yuch!
Ok, no eating peas without looking for lil froggies...and no more eating chocolate in the dark.
Blecch!

[BigLyd1]

Bleh, yuck...

And to think I almost reached for one of those in the store tonight but talked myself out of it because I have enough chocolate at home.

[MistyWolf]

I'd definitely call Hersheys and mail that "candy bar" to them .. take a picture before you mail it back though so you still have proof if you should need it.

[GeThang]

Oooh yeah, call em' this type of thing is happening too much, and it has to stop! Yah yah yah!!!! No more bugs! No more bugs! No more frogs! No more frogs!

[ImaGApeach]

OMG I just got thru eating a hershey's w/ almonds=I think I will puke now-I'd definitely get in touch w/ hershey's and the store where you got it-What is the expiration date on it?

[ladybreaker]

take a pic--take 2 in case 1 doesn't turn out!!freeze it-bug and all and call hershey's.they will give you an address to send it to!tell them you may never eat chocolate again and are going to tell all your friends about it!!LOL they will probably refund your money and send you free candy!!

ladybreaker

p.s. let us know what happens--i'm nosey--lol. after complaining about bad service at denny's,they sent me 10 free meal vouchers!!

[janelle]

Deffinitely tell them. The store may have cases of them growing bugs as we speak--type.

You know the company will send you more cady bars for this so tell them you want your money refunded. Yuck. You don't feel like eating their product for a long time if ever.:rolleyes:

[ahippiechic]

Oh, nasty! :(

[Char]

:mad: :( :eek: That happened to me years ago with a chocolate covered cherry. I am a choco-holic myself, I love the stuff, BUT, worms also love chocolate ! I know that sounds sick, and it IS sick, but, it's also a fact. AND, chocolate with ANY kind of nuts added also can get worms. The worm is in the nut, and, the nut gets mixed into the chocolate etc... Worms spin the cocoons. EWWWWWWW this is freaking me out talking about it ! Anyway, they can migrate from one candy to another. Also, you know that ANYTHING containing flour can and does get millworms, as it ages. Muffin mix, bisquit mix, flour etc... can all get millworms as it ages, and, even faster if it's in a hot area. Well, chocolate is kinda the same way. It allows the "eggs" that are in the mix to hatch. ( SOOOOO GROSS, but a fact of life). This is making me gag !!!
Ok... I would just take it back and suggest they clear the shelf of the OLD candy bars !

[BigLyd1]

We have a big problem with moths and larva. I've heard that it helps to put the dried stuff in the freezer first but I don't know if that kills the eggs. I know that I have to keep the dry cat food in the refrigerator to prevent the spread of these little creatures.

But thanks for the warning about the chocolate. Never eat chocolate in the dark. :eek:

[hiltonqueen]

I called & told them about it. All they did was ask me about the store, codes & stuff. Then she apologized, assured me that my health was not in jepardy (what about my gag reflex? LOL, I didn't say that, but was thinking it) & she took my name & address & said that she would send me $5.00 in coupons... whoopti do :rolleyes:

:eek: DON'T EAT CHOCOLATE IN THE DARK!!!! :eek: :rolleyes:

[KitaKat]

BLAH... thats my favorite snack... I love Hersheys Chocolate... :(

I'll call the company, take pictures, document everything... and see what happens...

YUCK!!!

I'm editing this cuz I just saw where you said they only offered $5 bucks... bet they'd offer more/be more concerned if the press knew about it.... HUMP!

[SaraSmiles]

Bless your heart. That is like something on the XFiles, almost. :o :p

[ocvachick]

EWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

[hiltonqueen]

Hi all, update on my "buggy in the candy" experience :rolleyes:

I got Hershey's coupons in the mail the other day & a letter of apology.
Ok, here's what makes me mad... the hershey bar was the ones by the baking area... you know, the giant ones. The cost is over $2.00 for one of those & they sent me 5 $1.00 off coupons, useable for 1 coupon per purchase.... are they kidding? They are assuming that I want to eat more (of course I do, but they don't have to know that) by giving me money off a bar.

Hey, I was just fine with the idea of a $5.00 coupon towards Hershey's in my grocery order, but to only be able to you $1.00 at a time... AND!! It doesn't even cover the cost of my original Hershey bar!!! :rolleyes:

I wrote them a letter telling them that Hershey is a rich as their candy & to try again. Enclosed is the letter you sent me & the lousy coupons that you thought were good enough A N D the "BUG" & wrapper from my candy bar... maybe he will wave his antennas at you, ....
your safe in the light.

In their letter to me they assured that they have the highest standards & equipment to assure that their product is perfect. They have refigerated facilities & trucks, but unfortunatly, they cannot control "infestations" (yuck) by poor storage of retailers.

My reply to that was that since you can assure that your product is fresh & bug free... just send me some directly. That way, I can feel safe eating a Hershey bar again.. & I can asure you, there aren't any buggies here.

I spend about $200 annually on Hershey's & would be happy if you just sent me a small portion to make of for my obvious misfortune.

What do ya thinK?

[MistyWolf]

Sounds good .. stand firm .. I am sure they will buckle or at least meet you in the middle somewhere .. you can always threaten them with lawyer action too!!

[VintageEyes]

Reminds me of the letter I read on PlanetFeedback a year or two ago about Hershey's Pot of Gold candy. Some ppl in an office had been given a box of it as a gift and they ate the first layer. They took the packaging off the second layer and it was covered in cobwebs and had bugs in it! :eek:

[VintageEyes]

http://www.planetfeedback.com/sharedLetters/viewLetter/0,2936,102588-42-0-0-20-0-fb_date-desc-227669-0,00.html

Hmmm....

http://www.planetfeedback.com/sharedLetters/viewLetter/0,2936,102588-42-0-0-20-0-fb_date-desc-223192-0,00.html

[Char]

:) I think it sounds ok, but, I don't think you would need to see a lawyer against Hershey. I see this as more of a problem at the store where you got it. They would be responsible for keeping track of expiration dates and in store infestations. I understand Hershey's point, that their product is top quality when it leaves their plant, and, that they keep it in good shape till it gets to the stores. I know that a lot of stores have insect problems. A lot don't air condition their stock areas etc... I see this as just "one of those things", and, as I said before, it happened to me too with the chocolate covered cherries. (ewwwwwwwww, makes me sick to remember it again...lol)

You must be a chocolate junkie too, as I am...LOL, since you plan to still be eating the chocolate, and I do too ! :p

The Nestle' crunch bar with caramel is awesome !

Anyway, I hope they do send you better coupons or some awesome chocolate ! ;)

[hiltonqueen]

Oh I never said lawyer or anything, that's nuts lol

[Char]

Originally posted by hiltonqueen
Oh I never said lawyer or anything, that's nuts lol

LOL, I know you have never even mentioned it, but, some others had... I was just thinking that if there was any one responsible, it would be the store. ;)

[1busymomma]

Hiltonqueen, you go girl! :D

Stay strong... That letter was awesome, hopefully they will compensate you thoroughly for it instead of brushing you off!

[janelle]

I told you they would say here eat more LOL. Go to the store and complain. You really need your money back on that infested candy. I agree, it's more the store's fault with the way they stored it but you ate it and it could have made you sick. They also need to throw the rest of the candy they have away before anyone else get it.

[BeanieLuvR]

This has to be one of the grossest things I have ever heard of!! When you originally posted this I swore that I would never eat chocolate again and I haven`t since then. Thank you hiltonqueen!! Your story has done more for my diet than my will power has. I used to be a chocoholic now the thought of chocolate makes me sick. I`ve already lost 5 pounds. :) I also think it was rotten of them sending such piddly coupons. I hope your second letter gets better results. :)

[marsha1970]

the fda allows so many bug parts to go into food, guess your bar got a little bit more than average. that is gross. i would think it's the stores resposnibility.

[HumNbirdMO]

:eek: OMG!! I should have never clicked my way in here. I think my morning sickness just made a return LOL!!

I think I am going to go puke now after reading this thread. Yeah, you guessed it, Hersheys with Almonds is one of my all time favorite candies...maybe I should say WAS one of my favorites....BLECH!! Don't know if I will ever enjoy one the same way again. :eek:

[Iluvbears]

the fda allows so many bug parts to go into food, guess your bar got a little bit more than average.

LMAO

You can look on the bright side, They added a lil more crunch to your candy bar. It's still a gross thought...Now when you bite into a candy bar and it tastes old, throw it out..lol

[hiltonqueen]

lol, you guys are funny :D

[Carlie]

so it's true..that chocolate is one of the few foods that is part of all the food groups?.. since now you can add protien to the mix..

[AngelGrim]

man i love chocolate but now i think i am about to gag and barf, hope you can get through this, but me and chocolate and being in the dark are not going to go down the same road

[Jojaby]

Oh, that's gross. I don't know if I'd ever be able to eat chocolate again after that. LOL.

[Char]

:D LOL... this is on MSN today...I couldn't resist posting it here !

Insect Cuisine: Good and Good for You?

by David George Gordon

Please pass the cricket canapés.

It's been four years since I wrote The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook, with its 33 recipes for ant, centipede, spider, and cricket dishes.

While the book has sold well and earned me guest slots on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, it has, alas, done little to change the eating habits of my fellow Americans.

Even after they've been presented with an assortment of new dishes--Scorpion Scaloppini, Giant Water Bugs on Water Cress, and Three Bee Salad, just to name a few--most folks would rather cling to the tried-and-true beef, chicken, or pork.

But why?

In other parts of the world, people have been merrily munching on insects, arachnids, and their kin for thousands of years. In South Africa, the local favorite is the mopane worm, a four-inch-long caterpillar stewed in a tangy tomato sauce. In Thailand, it's giant water bugs, steamed and served á la carte. In rural Brazil, the menu might include roasted termites or winged ants. Indonesian diners eagerly queue up for curried dragonfly, a delicacy they've named Sky Prawn.

But here? You won't find cricket stir-fry on the menu of the Olive Garden or Denny's. Nor are fried ant eggs--the equivalent of caviar in Mexico City's finest restaurants--served at Sardi's or Wolfgang Puck's. Hunt high and low, but I'll bet you won't see pponaegi, lightly seasoned Korean silkworms, among the canned goods at your neighborhood grocery chain.

Yes, it's true. Compared to the rest of the world's cultures, we are bug-deprived … and most of us don't even know what we're missing.

The benefits of bug-eating

Take grasshoppers, for example. Nutritional studies have established that these members of the insect order Orthoptera are more nutritious than so-called conventional meats, with six times the protein of cod or lean ground beef.

Similar studies have shown crickets to be equally healthful. One cup of these half-inch-long delicacies contains 250 calories and only six grams of fat. And women, take note: Crickets are also loaded with calcium. A steady diet of these morsels could slow the onset of osteoporosis.

One hundred grams of silkworm larvae provide 100 percent of the daily requirements for copper, zinc, iron, thiamin, and riboflavin. A single honey bee larva may contain 15 times the recommended daily allowance of vitamins A and D. You can actually overdose on these vitamins by eating too many larval bees.

Need another reason to include insects and other land-dwelling arthropods on our bills of fare? Then consider this: Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, is much more Earth-friendly than is our reliance on chicken, pork, and beef.

Insect efficiency

It's all about what food scientists call Efficiency of Conversion of Ingested Food (ECI) ratings. These measures are derived by comparing the weight that an animal gains after eating a quantity of food.

Chickens, which produce 38 to 40 pounds of meat from 100 pounds of feed, earn an ECI rating of around 38 or 40. By comparison, beef cattle and sheep get ECI values of 10 and 5.3 respectively.

In other words, 90 percent of a steer's diet and 95 percent of a sheep's diet is wasted, at least from a meat-eater's perspective. No wonder we need to devote such vast tracts of land and deep reservoirs of water to these animals' cultivation.

Now let's look at some ECI values for insects: 19 to 31 for silkworm, 16 to 37 for the pale Western cutworm, and up to 44 for German cockroaches.

No, I'm not suggesting that we all need to eat cockroaches in order to save the planet. I'm just trying to point out how metabolically thrifty certain insects are--and how much food and water we could conserve.

Still not convinced? Then think about how many tons of pesticide we could save by hand-harvesting the competition instead of launching a chemical assault on their ranks. For centuries, Japanese farmers have been catching the grasshoppers that might otherwise nibble on their rice plants.

This way, the farmers can rely on two cash crops from their paddies--the fresh, pesticide-free rice and "rice hoppers" in teriyaki sauce, long considered a delicacy in parts of Japan.

Entomophagy, past and present

There's strong evidence that early on, people in Europe and the Middle East routinely ate insects. In the Book of Leviticus, for example, the text states that most bugs are taboo. But not ALL bugs, it says. "These you may eat; the arbeh after his kind, the sal'am after his kind, the chargol after his kind, and the chagav after his kind ..." Most scholars agree that these are really names for the same critter, the locust, in various developmental states.

So what made people stop eating locusts? "It's hard to figure," says Dr. Florence Dunkel, an associate professor of entomology at Montana State University. "But regardless of why we turned away, it appears that we are very slowly returning to an acceptance of insects as food."

Dunkel points to the growing popularity of insect fairs and festivals typically hosted by universities, science museums, and zoos. Edible insects are a highlight of many of these public events, which often include free samples of mealworm quiche or chocolate "chirp" cookies--a variant of the old standby featuring oven-baked crickets.

The attendance figures for these events are truly staggering, according to Dunkel. As many as 50,000 people attended last year's entomophagy events at the L'Insectarium de Montréal. Around 10,000 insect epicures flock to the annual Big Bug Bake-off, part of Purdue University's annual Bug Bowl in April. Other events at Iowa State University, New Orleans' Audubon Zoo, and the North Carolina State Museum of Natural History in Raleigh attract equally enthusiastic if somewhat smaller crowds.

At least one company, Hotlix, of Grover Beach, California, has made a modest profit on catering to such events. Its Cricket-Lick-It lollipops have become the coin of the realm, especially among adolescent entomophages.

"There's hardly an entomology student alive today who hasn't sampled some sort of insect-based cuisine," claims Dunkel. "And even before college, more and more young people are experiencing entomophagy in high school or at gatherings of their local 4-H clubs."

Insect haute cuisine

"Right now, it's the 'in' thing," says Brian Vidor, proprietor of Typhoon, a trendy Pan-Asian restaurant at the Santa Monica, California, airport.

About six years ago, Vidor added stir-fried crickets and ants to his already extensive menu. The word swiftly spread, and soon the restaurateur found himself struggling to ensure that supply would meet the demand.

"I've had to focus on foods that are available year-round or that have a long shelf life," Vidor explains. Crickets are the easiest, he says, because they are reared commercially by the millions, mainly as live bait or to feed lizards and other pets. Dried ants can be purchased by the pound from Chinese pharmaceutical suppliers, who value these exotic comestibles for their supposed anti-aging properties.

Recently Vidor has added Thai water bugs and scorpions on shrimp toast to his menu. He claims the latter come from special scorpion ranches in China. The former? "From the frozen foods section of a nearby Asian grocery store," he says with a smile.

Right now, Vidor's riding the crest of a wave generated in large part by the media. "We've hosted nearly every wrap party for the cast and crew of TV's Survivor," he boasts.

Weekly TV programs like Fear Factor (in which contestants eat live cockroaches and other insects while competing for cash prizes) have also piqued public interest. So have "celebrity endorsements" by the big green star of Shrek, observed eating ants on a discarded lollipop stick during one scene in Dreamworks' computer-animated film.

Still, Vidor, the culinary Czar of the Bizarre, admits that most people are slow to accept insects, however artfully prepared, as haute cuisine.

Most diners are not very adventurous, he says. They favor the foods their parents or grandparents gave them--even if those items seem strange by other folks' standards. The same people who lust for oxtail soup or pickled pigs' feet will turn up their noses at barbecued tarantula or one of my personal favorites, Cream of Katydid Soup.

Look how long it took sushi bars to catch on in this country, even though the Japanese have been eating sushi and sashimi for centuries. Now everybody's clamoring for slices of raw yellowtail tuna or crabmeat dotted with flying fish roe.

"Be bold," advises Florence Dunkel.

To which I add, "Bug appétit."

David George Gordon is an award-winning science writer with a penchant for the bizarre. He is the author of The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook and The Compleat Cockroach.


LOL...

;)

[Jenny5]

I worked in a candy factory for 3 years, and if you had seen some of the stuff that I saw, you would never eat candy again! (I have heard that this applies to any type of food~if you knew how it was prepared, you would never eat it again)
There is allowed to be so much insect matter in chocolate (I assume all foods are this way?) and unfortunately sometimes it hatches. I have seen pecans that were green and wormy and were still being used. I still am not able to eat chocolate after 15 years!!!!

[BigLyd1]

I think I need to go work at a candy factory. Candy and gum are my weakness.

[hiltonqueen]

I think that I'm addicted to chocolate. I think about it like when I was a teenager & I thought about my boyfriend every hour of the day... it's chocolate now :eek:

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME! THATS WEIRD

Char ~ Nice story. I think that I'd try anything if it was covered with chocolate.
Except for a cockroach, never would I eat something so gross

There's a fine line on your stomach lining between choosing to eat a bug & not knowing that your eating a bug, or er his web... whichever comes first *spitting out the web*

[Char]

Originally posted by hiltonqueen
I think that I'm addicted to chocolate. I think about it like when I was a teenager & I thought about my boyfriend every hour of the day... it's chocolate now :eek:

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME! THATS WEIRD

Char ~ Nice story. I think that I'd try anything if it was covered with chocolate.
Except for a cockroach, never would I eat something so gross

There's a fine line on your stomach lining between choosing to eat a bug & not knowing that your eating a bug, or er his web... whichever comes first *spitting out the web*

Well, if there's something wrong with you, there is something wrong with me too. I am addicted to chocolate too, always have been, it runs in the family. I am really shocked that it is not yet illegal, most things that good are.
I "must" do at least one candy bar a day... after a meal. It satisfies my sweet tooth. It also "must" be actual chocolate, not like "something chocolate", like a doughnut, it has to be "chocolate" in some type of bar form...LOL
Research from a few years ago claimed that people who eat chocolate live longer than those who don't...LOL, maybe we will live to be 120 !

[hiltonqueen]

Oh, sometimes I do 2 bars a day :eek:
And if I don't get one in, I feel wrong about the day, lol