What you’re describing is something many people notice after soaking strawberries in salt water.
The small white, wriggling organisms are often larvae of small fruit flies, such as the larvae of the spotted-wing drosophila or other fruit flies. These insects can lay eggs in ripening fruit, and the larvae may crawl out when the berries are soaked in salt water because the change in environment stresses them.
A few things to know:
- This doesn’t necessarily mean the strawberries were spoiled or unusually dirty. Fruit can contain tiny insect larvae even when it looks perfectly fresh.
- The larvae are generally not considered harmful to healthy people if accidentally eaten. While unpleasant, stomach acid typically destroys them.
- Washing fruit under running water removes dirt and some surface contaminants, but it won’t remove larvae that are already inside the fruit.
- If seeing the larvae makes you uncomfortable, discard the affected berries. Otherwise, inspect the rest and refrigerate or freeze them promptly to slow further insect development.
If you’re curious whether what you saw matches fruit fly larvae, you can upload a photo or short video of the white wriggling objects, and I can help identify them.
