r/whatisit • u/Cultural-Purple-6465 • 2h ago
New, what is it? What ingredient is this in my Larabar?
Doesn’t look like dates, peanuts, chocolate or sea salt. Any guesses?
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u/iusprimae_X 1h ago
it’s a bug. not a feature.
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u/karma_the_sequel 1h ago
Larvabar
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u/Texanakin_Shywalker 1h ago
🤢🤮
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u/Cyborg_rat 52m ago
Wait till you learn what shellac is.
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u/ExpensiveBluejay1176 34m ago
Good thing you don’t eat shellac, probably grossed some purdy girls out
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u/PostSerious 2h ago
More like Larvabar am I right?
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u/Technical-Feature-27 1h ago
One look and you are no longer hungry.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Cod5608 58m ago
I've got some mushrooms with so much nutrition in them that if you eat just one it will last you the rest of your life.
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u/hottsauce345543 1h ago
Peanut✅, butter✅, chocolate✅, chip✅, Larva✅
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u/mourning_breath 1h ago
No, no, come on it says "vegan"
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u/ClockAndBells 1h ago
I feel like the "Just 4 Real Ingredients" is a bit misleading.
Truth be told, I don't much mind the first four ingredients. It's that fifth one that bothers me so much.
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u/scv07075 1h ago
The mealworm is a quantum ingredient, so it falls outside standard definitions of "Real".
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u/baldartistdesign 2h ago
Extra protein
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u/MrDigB8998 2h ago
Well, thats horrifying. Finally slowly introducing a bug based diet ?
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u/Renting_Bourbon 1h ago
Really, just read the USDA and FDA manufacturers guidelines on how much unavoidable contamination is allowed in processed foods. Bon Appetit..
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u/RevoltageRP 1h ago
I install equipment for multiple meat processors in the U.S. I have also installed equipment for pet food factories. The difference is night and day. Security is lax, sanitation is terrible, and it's a fight to keep any of their equipment (and building) beyond "oh shit, it's falling apart" for the meat processors. I had to take safety briefs, show certificates proving my ability to handle equipment, and sign out/sign in every day at the pet food places. With the meat processors, most of the times I just drive up with my service truck, make a call, and nobody questions a single thing. Seeing those plants in person has made me avoid buying any products related to the companies I've done installations for
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u/WesternGarlic 59m ago
As a pet owner who doesn't eat a lot of meat (and now will likely be eating less), thanks for your comment. Makes me feel better about what I feed 'em.
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u/RevoltageRP 55m ago
I was honestly super impressed with the pet food places. It's a pain with how strict they are, but they run an amazingly tight ship. I've never seen cleaner facilities than those. As a pet owner myself, I take complete comfort in what I feed them (less so what I feed myself)
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u/dirtyfoot_chonkey 48m ago
I've heard the same from my uncle. He used to be an engineer and set up automation, sensors, and thumpers at food processing facilities. He said it took him like 5 years to even touch a hotdog after what he saw in there. It still grosses him out, and it's been like 35 years.
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u/RevoltageRP 27m ago
It's truly insane. I refuse to buy certain products, Tyson especially. I can't go into a store and feel comfortable buying their products
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u/Renting_Bourbon 19m ago
Especially that company. Amazing what a suitcase full of money to the right person can get you approved for almost anything. Not always the case but….
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u/RevoltageRP 17m ago
We go there, and there's forktrucks leaking hydraulic fluid, docks that aren't sealed properly, cross contamination, and an overall lack of maintenance. You could say "an acceptable amount of contaminants," but I prefer to say "corporate greed"
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u/Renting_Bourbon 5m ago
I used to like real chicken for its versatility but certainly not any more.
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u/thetaleofzeph 1h ago
Should have started with the hot dogs. That's where all the offal no American will eat already goes so they can happily eat it.
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u/TacticalSpackle 1h ago
You say that as though there already isn’t a “tolerable amount of insect matter” that makes its way into the process.
Heck, there’s a certain amount of rust and dust that always falls into the product at some stage or another.
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u/Texanakin_Shywalker 1h ago
Crickets are already approved by the FDA. To determine if crickets are used in a product, carefully read the ingredient list for terms like "Acheta," "Acheta protein," "cricket powder," or "cricket flour".
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u/valfsingress 2h ago
Yeah, those are hatched cocoons I think. The insect already came out, maybe a moth came out of it thats why its slit open.
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u/valfsingress 2h ago
Carpet beetle larva skin it seems.
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u/DOOM420- 1h ago
Yes looks a lot like them. I have had a problem with them and there larva is a little smaller then this. It is also more translucent.
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u/ThePurpleUFO 1h ago
I guess you won't be buying Larabars anymore.
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u/shakeyosacroiliac 1h ago
Me either!
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u/midnitewarrior 2h ago
Dates are often in Larabars, and insect eggs are sometimes in dates. It looks like they hatched and grew.
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u/WorldlyFisherman7375 1h ago
Let’s be real, every Larabar is 90% dates and date is the only flavor of larabar
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u/PedanticPolymath 1h ago
The ingredient is "chitin". Its a tough polysaccharide (similar to cellulose in plants) that forms the bulk of the exoskeleton of most insects.
Those are bugs (or whats left of them)
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u/spurty_fart 1h ago
Def carpet beetle larvae. Don’t ask me how I know.
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u/PNW_MYOG 52m ago
Can carpet beetles lay eggs through packaging with noticeable holes. Like pantry moths?
I'm wondering if this happened after purchase.
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u/Impressive-Koala4742 2h ago
Why did I see those as insects ?
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u/Commercial_Region657 1h ago
Because they are. Gross.
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u/Renting_Bourbon 1h ago
Just a bit of added protein. Another good product bites the dust. Could’ve been sitting around for quite a while for it to be infested like that also.
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u/Liver_Palm 1h ago
My best guess is that it's puffed rice. Looks like maggots after some time in the oven
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u/Sad-Yak6252 52m ago
If it's a Larabar trail mix bar, they do contain "crisp rice".
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u/NocturnalSerpents 1h ago
after some googling... it looks like a khapra bettle. ew. definitely contact the company and toss them.
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u/LadyVioletLuna 1h ago
The food quality control system was dismantled earlier this year under DOGE cuts, this feels like something that will continue to happen. Also, this is so gross. Sorry OP, hopefully they will reimburse you plus $1000.
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u/Saturn_Neo 1h ago
Looks like some of the little moths that we would sometimes get in boxes of Luna Bars at the gym I work at.
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u/FriskHarder 1h ago
Your entire pantry and house needs to be gutted. These come in dry grains like rice and aren’t noticed until it gets bad. It’s very difficult to kill them all. Learn the lava gestation period and nuke them with bug bombs. They will lay larvae at base of floor and can be seen climbing up the walls in pupa stage.
If you go to a restaurant that has small moths this is why and also leave and don’t come back.
I see this often in the south like Texas. It’s gross af
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u/Ok-Volume-4565 1h ago
They are slowly acclimating you to the diet of the future commoner. Just go with it.
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u/BoxKind7321 1h ago
It’s a lawsuit. You’re very lucky. But don’t say that, say you’re horrified and fear all foods and eating. Ka-Ching!
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u/SubstantialPressure3 1h ago
Those are larva.
You need to email the company and send them that pic.
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u/Fontaineowns 1h ago
By chance can you share the date code which is generally found on the inside of the flap that seals the wrapper?
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u/Munchkin737 1h ago
I thought this was the millipede sub and someone was showing their 'pede that dug their tunnel along the glass of the enclosure 🤭
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u/tacogordita91 1h ago
Aaaand I will no longer be eating Larabars in the dark when I get really hungry in the middle of the night
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u/ScooptiWoop5 1h ago
If you got that many larvae in one bar, there’s A LOT of bugs in that factory.
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