Sign in

Tiny bugs crawl out of strawberries soaked in salt water. People try viral fruit hack, the results are gross

The video prompted many to try the fruit hack and they got gross results too.

Published on: May 21, 2020, 14:32:38 IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Share
Share via
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
Copy link
  • copy link

A fruit hack video on TikTok, which is equal parts disgusting and interesting, has now left people with lots of questions. Shared a few days ago, the video shows a woman soaking fresh strawberries in salt water to clean them. Normally, one would expect dirt to come out of the fruits but in this case something else crawled out too – bugs.

Bugs came out of the strawberries after soaking them in water. (TikTok/@lauren.gambrell)
Bugs came out of the strawberries after soaking them in water. (TikTok/@lauren.gambrell)

“GROSS IT WAS JUMPING!!!!! BRB CRYING,” wrote TikToker Seleste Radcliffe and shared the video. “Apparently if you wash your strawberries in water and salt, all the bugs will come out,” she says in the clip which shows exactly the same thing.

Don’t believe us? Check out yourself:

The video prompted several others to try the hack and they got the same gross result. Check out some such posts:

One TikTok user, probably to check the legitimacy of the claim, even used a microscope to check the strawberries and guess what she got? Bugs!

@thatnatchats

y’all better WASH your strawberries ‼️😳😭 Comment what I should look at next! ✨🔬 ##fyp ##foryou ##science

♬ Don’t Start Now - Dua Lipa

Though absolutely repulsive, it’s a common occurrence, reports Cloud Mountain Farm Centre. Turns out, the small bugs are “most likely the larvae of Spotted Wing Drosophila, a non-native fruit fly that lays its eggs” on different types of ripening berries.

Thankfully, these worms are not harmful if ingested, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

Will you try this strawberry cleaning hack video? Or for you ignorance is bliss?

  • Trisha Sengupta
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Trisha Sengupta

    Trisha Sengupta is a Chief Content Producer at Hindustan Times with over six years of digital newsroom experience. Specialising in high-engagement storytelling, she blends viral trends with traditional journalism to cover the intersection of technology, finance, and human emotion. Her reporting spans real estate and personal finance struggles in hubs like Bengaluru and Gurgaon, the NRI experience, and corporate shifts like tech layoffs. Trisha also frequently tracks global figures and writes human interest stories. Offline, Trisha is an avid reader, history enthusiast and solo traveler. She balances her journalism career with family life while actively integrating AI tools into her modern storytelling approach.Read More