If you’ve soaked fresh berries in salt water and noticed tiny white, wiggling worms coming out, it can be shocking. But this situation is more common than many people realize. The small creatures are usually fruit fly larvae that sometimes develop inside soft fruits.
What Are Those Tiny White Worms?
In many cases, the worms are larvae from the Spotted Wing Drosophila, a type of fruit fly that lays eggs inside ripe fruits like strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
The eggs hatch into tiny larvae that can remain inside the fruit until it is washed or soaked.
Why Salt Water Makes Them Come Out
When berries are soaked in salt water, the larvae react to the salty environment and wriggle out of the fruit. This makes them visible even though they were already present before washing.
Are the Berries Unsafe to Eat?Finding larvae is unpleasant, but they are generally not dangerous to humans. If berries contain fruit fly larvae, they typically pose very little health risk. Many people may have unknowingly consumed them before noticing.
However, whether to keep or discard the berries often comes down to personal comfort.
What You Can Do
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