We all know that flies are a part of life.
They buzz around, they land on things, and they’re generally known for spreading illness, germs, and diseases.
But how bad are they, really?
If a fly lands on your food, should you be concerned?
In this post, we’re going to dive deep and uncover the truth.
Let’s talk about flies!
The Basics: The Health And Safety Dangers Posed By Flies
We all know that house flies carry bacteria. But here’s the bad news.
They may be even more dangerous than most of us realize.
According to studies, house flies can carry several types of bacteria. A lot of these bacteria come from fecal matter and decay, which is what house flies eat.
Yes, it certainly seems gross, but they do in fact spend quite a lot of time looking for such material. And if you’ve ever walked by a pile of dog feces, only to see it covered with flies, that would explain why.
But flies are also generally first on-the-scene with dead carcasses as well.
They tend to breed in these environments. They also lay eggs here, seeing as how this ‘decaying material’ is what feeds them.
But this is a dangerous thing for humans, because when flies land on human food, or on surfaces in our homes, they can leave behind bits of bacteria.
This is the bad news.
The good news?
They tend to leave only small amounts of bacteria. Generally, they don’t leave behind enough to make most people sick.
What Happens If Flies Land On Your Food?
Obviously, you don’t want flies to land on your food.
But if they do, does this mean that the safety of that food has been compromised?
Well, as a general rule of thumb, a fly or two landing on food won’t make it unsafe.
But a whole swarm of flies? That could be different.
That may be a bit more concerning.
See, even with several flies landing on your food, the risk of actually getting sick is pretty low. But with every fly that lands on it, the odds increase that they’ll leave behind just enough bacteria to give you a stomach bug or some other illness.
Of course, eating flies would be much more dangerous than eating food that has been touched by them.
But thankfully, that doesn’t happen quite as often, mostly because the vast majority of people aren’t too keen on ‘eating flies,’ and do a pretty good job of avoiding it.
How To Keep Flies At Bay?
As a general rule, prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to flies.
Taking out the garbage, cleaning up after meals, just in-general and making sure that there is no decaying matter laying around will help to cut down on attracting them, and will help to keep you safer and healthier.
Flies are drawn to decay.
So if you make sure to clean up, you shouldn’t have much of an issue with them.
If your house tends to attract a lot of flies, that may be something you should look at. This is a problem that you should try to avoid having.