Thousands of caterpillars seized at London airport
LONDON (AP) — British customs agents made a creepy discovery when an airline passenger was found with 207 pounds of caterpillars in his luggage.
The man claimed they were intended as food for personal consumption.
The U.K. Border Force said Friday that inspectors at London's Gatwick Airport found the dried caterpillars shrink-wrapped in cellophane and packed into hessian bags carried by a passenger travelling from Burkina Faso via Istanbul.
The caterpillars were seized by authorities after the Feb. 23 find because they breached restrictions on importing animal products. The 22-year-old passenger was let off with a warning.
Border Force spokeswoman Ingrid Smith said "the vigilance of our officers has stopped these dried insects from entering the U.K., and possibly posing a risk to our food chain."
The man claimed they were intended as food for personal consumption.
The U.K. Border Force said Friday that inspectors at London's Gatwick Airport found the dried caterpillars shrink-wrapped in cellophane and packed into hessian bags carried by a passenger travelling from Burkina Faso via Istanbul.
The caterpillars were seized by authorities after the Feb. 23 find because they breached restrictions on importing animal products. The 22-year-old passenger was let off with a warning.
Border Force spokeswoman Ingrid Smith said "the vigilance of our officers has stopped these dried insects from entering the U.K., and possibly posing a risk to our food chain."
We are safe!!! Customs stopped dead, freeze dried insects from being eaten in Britain! How does one prepare a freeze dried caterpillar?
Didn't the caterpillars have the proper visas? :-P
But how many of you knew that the capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou?????????
Offbeat can be very educational at times.
@WendyTeagarden I had the Burkina Faso combo plate at Filberto's for lunch.
@Kushfan Glad to see that you survived it.
@WendyTeagarden Saying that aloud sounds like someone's stomach rumbling.
(Probably from eating dried caterpillars.)
Ewww... Â I mean, live caterpillars are kind of cute, but they're definitely NOT what I want to eat..!
@margay1Â I think they're dead, Margay. But I wouldn't want to eat dead ones, either.
I wonder if he was planning on putting them in a sandwich...you know, to add some "cRuNCh!"
"Smack, smack, smack!"
As Billy Crystal would say: You look Larvalous!!!
Seriously, you don't want to mess around with UK airports.
@WendyTeagarden  They should take on Texas.
I hear you don't want to mess around with it, either.
(It's messed up enough as it is...)Â :-P
Border Force spokeswoman Ingrid Smith said "the vigilance of our officers has stopped these dried insects from entering the U.K., and possibly posing a risk to our food chain."
I agree, those dead and dried insects are dangerous....Like the frosting on a cupcake...Gotta stay vigilant.
@disgustedman
Yeah, thank god for those border agent; I'd really hate it if my horse-meat contained bits of caterpillar instead of the typical rat poop allowed by law.
They look delicious.