If there’s one thing that everybody knows about flies, it’s that they aren’t the cleanest of creatures. They are drawn to rotten food and dog faeces and hang out around bins and road kill. Whether you eat food that a fly has touched is completely up to you, but before you do, here are some things you might not have known about flies from our pest control experts.
They vomit on your food
Yes, that’s right! Flies can’t chew food. So, in order to digest it, they vomit acidic stomach enzymes onto your food. The food then breaks down and they suck it up with their proboscises.
They lay eggs on your food
Worse still, many female flies lay eggs on the food they are eating, as they see it as a viable place for their maggots to feed when they hatch.
Their hairy legs carry bacteria
The largest problem about a fly landing on your food is the bacteria that they carry. The hairs on flies’ legs generally carry E. coli and salmonella, as well as other nasty bacteria and diseases. While a healthy human is unlikely to get sick from a fly briefly landing on their food, it’s better not to take the risk.
Want to protect your food from flies?
The vomiting, the egg laying and the bacterial contamination all happens within seconds of them landing on you’re food, so there’s no avoiding it. If you want to make sure your food is fly free, then you need a pest control professional. The team at Peace of Mind Termite & Pest Management pest controllers will identify your homes pest risks and recommend the best pest control methods for your needs. Located in Tweed Heads, we service all suburbs of the Gold Coast and Northern NSW.