Regarding the maggots found on a burger

Earlier this week it was reported publicly via social media that a local resident found maggots on a burger purchased in Geraldton.  

Skye Lee Simon posted on Facebook that she noticed her burger had white stuff on it, but on closer inspection discovered it to be live maggots crawling around.

We contacted the store managers at the time, and while they initially declined to comment, the senior management contacted us shortly afterwards and assured us their standards were above board, and they had personally been working all morning and seen no issues like that. 

The customer posted photos of the burger in question, and also took video footage of the burger which we have seen. We can confirm that there was indeed what appeared to be maggots crawling on the meat.  

But how did they get there?

While the thought of having maggots on your food is enough to kill most people's appetites, the question of how they got there is curious.  

After doing a small amount of research, we have learned that some fly species are ovoviviparous, meaning the the eggs hatch inside the mother. Other flies eggs hatch immediately, as soon as they are laid (or reach a warm temperature).

Thus, the presence of maggots on some warm food does not necessarily imply unhygienic food preparation standards, but simply the possibility of the presence of one lonely fly, something rather challenging to avoid completely. 

One local resident even contacted us and shared a story of a time at a party where he had seen a fly land on some cooked meat, and moments later it had maggots on it. 

Removing the article

While we initially reported on the claims made, we decided to pull the story, as the intention of Everything Geraldton is not to vilify local businesses in the name of sensationalised news. 

However, some local residents were disappointed that we removed the article. We have decided at this stage to withhold the name of the company involved while the City investigates the matter more thoroughly.  

No doubt Skye Lee Simon had no ill intention toward the proprietor with whom she purchased the burger from. Anyone who had experienced that kind of shock would simply want to warn others to check their meal first.