i live in socal and we have this little black ants (seem standard enough to me) and often times they walk on my plates or a fork or something. i always wash it off, but i want to know if there is a greater risk than i am aware of. i live in a pretty nice place surrounded by lots of vegetation, not in the middle of a busy downtown or something. do these ants propose a significant health risk if there were a few on a bagel or something and i brushed them off and ate the bagel anyway?

Theoretically yes - depending on what ground they walked before, i.e. feces, dead animals, chemicals, you get the idea.

Not sure if they can actually carry diseases.

Funny story. One morning I ate a bowl of cereal. Then I poured a second bowl, and began to eat it. Gazing out the window, some movement nearby gleaned out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. It looked down, and there were ants crawling around on the counter top... and on the cereal box... and oh look, they were coming out of the cereal box itself... and there are even tiny little ants on my arm, on my hand, on the spoon, and...

I forced myself to look down at the bowl of cereal. It was a swarming mass of tiny black motion.

It was, remember, my second bowl. Oh well. What are you gonna do?

Anyway, I'm no worse for wear.

Good news: ants aren't really disease carriers.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...sease-carriers

So you really aren't in any sort of risk. Hell, you could eat the ants if you really wanted to.

i still probably wouldnt, cause you know, its effing disgusting.

meh, high protein

cover 'em in chocolate ftw

Probably nicer and more nutritous than the cereal even without the chocolate.

so does semen and dog meat, neither of which i enjoy in my mouth

how do you know this?

This is true, except with your Corn Flakes there is less concern about where they've bin (or, as you say in England, "where they've bean").

semen: internet
dog meat: lived in china for a while.

Even if they have traipsed microscopic amounts of feces onto your food, your immune system should take care of the extra bacteria, no problem.

Common misconception. This is how Zombie movies start.

Eat your bagel, you're going to be okay.

In my crib, I let the spiders alone. I figure they catch and eat most of the flying stuff. Plus it's cool when one of them drops down fromt the ceiling on a thread to say hi while I'm on the computer. I'm cool with ants outside, but inside, no. I buy traps. Same with las cucarachas or mice.

In Colombia they have big ants which they roast and eat like popcorn.

I had a few sprinkled over my salad, like croutons. I liked them.

you tasted semen on the internet? link to vid plz

Fixed

Insect protein is the future of human nourishment.

Just eat the damn ants.

(9 years later lol also get back all you guys that left, i hope you are all healthy and happy).

Just dont do it, damn it. How difficult is it to realize that even 1% chance to get in trouble is going to cost hundreds or thousands more than the cost of new food?

The actual chance to get in trouble probably is in the thousands of a % but its not worth it for time reasons also. Time is precious.

In principle yes an ant can be carrying anything but the chance is so small that it will find its way into your system successfully and then defeat your immune system too as even HIV has only 1% chance per truly risky event.

The problem is the idea that disgusts you really. In reality we do consume insects parts daily in all grains and other things we never notice with some tiny chance.

Also yes nothing happens other than disgusting thoughts when you eat insects. It is food for birds right?

Not looking forward to a future where it is official food but whatever.

https://www.orkin.com/ants/disease/

Just not worth it.

Also yes restaurants are disgusting. But the real thing is every kitchen is disgusting if you make mistakes. You can have a messy kitchen and never get any food poisoning because you wash everything that you eat and cut and process and cook it thoroughly.

The fact of the matter is that one must be paranoid about getting sick even if also aware that its a ridiculously small probability and not worthy of concern if you have something more important going on. I wash my hands every time i am outside my home for as little as 1 min having touched keys, money or doors handles etc. I never touch my eyes if outside home unless i clean my hands if i have to remove something (just have sanitary wipes and liquids for disinfection etc in your car if you are out a lot).

The fact of the matter is nothing will happen to you like 99.99% of the time in this example here. Eating junk and living unhealthy or inside endless chemical pollutants of every day equipment is way worse and nobody cares for it really. That is also only cumulative over time and not an immediate risk or anything.

We are pretty much strong and can endure all kinds of ridiculous exposures but you dont have to test it why? Whats the point?

It is also true that kids need to be exposed to risk early on up to a point to get strong. It is of course to be expected biologically we are conditioned to be that way because for the most part of our history we have lived under filthy conditions in adversity and only recently we have civilized surroundings that kill you silently and slowly lol.


Kitchens in restaurants are probably scary because of ignorance of those working there or because some are opportunistic workers but i honestly think most workers with experience and the new ones that try to earn a chance for a better life are not unethical people that dont care for customers. Ignorance and random variance in chaotic environments is the risk really. Some customers are losers though. This is why you must treat all people that serve you with warmth, generosity, respect and friendship. It builds for them a culture of respect to you the customer as well and it is essential for all involved to care for each other or it all goes to hell quickly.