⚠️This fact has been debunked
The fact incorrectly states the FDA allows 10 fruit fly eggs but only 2 maggots per cup of orange juice. The actual FDA defect action level for canned citrus juices is: 5 or more fly eggs per 250ml (about 1 cup) OR 1 or more maggots per 250ml. The numbers in the original fact are wrong, and the FDA standard uses 'OR' not 'AND' - meaning juice with a maggot cannot also have 5+ fly eggs.
According to U.S. FDA standards, 1 cup of orange juice is allowed to contain 10 fruit fly eggs, but only 2 maggots.
The FDA Allows Maggots in Your Orange Juice (Just Not Many)
Your morning glass of orange juice might contain more than just vitamin C. According to the FDA's Food Defect Levels Handbook, canned citrus juices are allowed to contain up to 5 fruit fly eggs or 1 maggot per 250 milliliters (about one cup) before the agency takes enforcement action. Yes, you read that correctly: there are official government standards for acceptable maggot levels in your breakfast beverage.
Before you swear off OJ forever, there's context here. These aren't targets that juice manufacturers aim for—they're maximum contamination thresholds. The FDA set these "defect action levels" because it's economically impractical to produce food that's 100% free of natural contaminants. Despite modern processing equipment and quality control, the occasional bug egg or larva will inevitably make it through when you're processing millions of oranges.
The Either/Or Rule
Here's an interesting detail: the FDA standard uses "or," not "and." A batch of juice can have up to 5 fly eggs, or it can have 1 maggot, but it can't have both. So if inspectors find a maggot floating in your citrus juice sample, the presence of even a single additional fly egg would push it over the defect action level and trigger enforcement. It's a strange form of regulatory generosity—pick your poison, but don't mix them.
The specific insect in question is usually Drosophila, better known as the fruit fly. These tiny flies are attracted to fermenting fruit and can lay hundreds of eggs at a time. During orange harvesting and processing, some inevitably end up in the mix.
What "Defect Action Levels" Really Mean
The FDA maintains defect levels for hundreds of food products, covering everything from insect fragments in peanut butter to rodent hairs in cinnamon. These levels represent the point at which the FDA will consider a food "adulterated" and subject to enforcement action—think recalls, fines, or production shutdowns.
Critically, these are upper limits, not acceptable standards. Food manufacturers aren't supposed to aim for "just under" the defect level. Companies that consistently produce food near these thresholds can still face enforcement for poor manufacturing practices. The levels exist because the FDA recognizes that despite everyone's best efforts, nature happens.
Is It Actually Dangerous?
The FDA maintains that defects below the action levels "pose no inherent hazard to health." Fruit fly eggs and maggots, while undeniably gross, aren't toxic. The pasteurization process that most commercial orange juice undergoes would kill any living organisms anyway. You're essentially drinking what amounts to extremely trace amounts of protein from insect sources—unappetizing, but not harmful.
Other beverages have similar standards. Apple juice and other fruit juices fall under comparable defect levels. Even your fancy cold-pressed juice isn't immune to the realities of agricultural production—though unpasteurized juices might actually have living contaminants rather than the heat-killed variety.
So the next time you pour yourself a glass of orange juice, remember: it's probably perfectly fine. And if it's not? Well, at least the FDA has set very specific limits on exactly how not-fine it's allowed to be.