A new pest has arrived in Vancouver and it may show up in people's groceries.
Victoria Atri was about to make herself a salad when she found several clusters of bug eggs nesting on one of the spinach leaves.
The eggs were only on one leaf but she threw away the entire pack of spinach, which she had bought the day before.
"I don't ever want this to happen again," she writes in a May 2 Facebook post alongside a photo of her buggy produce.
UBC expert Murray B. Isman tells V.I.A. that he believes the eggs were from a brown marmorated stink bug, which is a recently introduced pest in Vancouver.
Because the eggs are glued to the leaf and cannot be removed by rinsing with water, Isman advises those who spot the small white clusters on produce or vegetables from their own garden to rip away the area of the leaf containing them or to cut that section out with scissors.
The rest of the leaf can be safely consumed after a rinse with water.
As for the part containing the eggs, Isman says they should be destroyed by crushing them in a folded paper towel or placing them in a freezer for at least 24 hours before discarding them.
He notes to not put the eggs outside.
"Insect eggs on edible plants are probably more common than you think," Isman tells V.I.A. "You could consume produce with the eggs and they wouldn't harm you in any way and may actually add a bit of protein."
