Our apologies in advance, Pandas – most entries in this list might be quite unappetizing. At the same time, foreign objects in food is quite an important topic. You've got to admit it – hardly anyone wants to end up with a stranger's fingernail in their dinner. So, how does it happen? And can people do something about it if they find something unwanted in their food?

If this list aggravates your anxiety about chomping on something unwanted when taking a bite out of that juicy fast-food burger, don't be that alarmed. Relatively recent research shows that, in the past 20 years, about one in 10 recalls of foods happened because of foreign objects. And the object most often found in food is plastic fragments – so, not that horribly gross.

On the other hand, The Washington Post just reported that there's been an increase in foreign objects found in food in 2025. Brands such as Chef's Line and Nestlé had to recall their products because customers complained about possible "metal bolts" and the presence of "wood-like material", respectively.

Some bad stuff in food we don't see. When food gets contaminated with pathogens, we're less likely to know that the meatball we ate was from a particularly bad batch. Just last year, there was a deadly listeria outbreak caused by Boar's Head deli meat. McDonald's onions were linked to E. coli outbreaks. Even cucumbers were thought to be infected with salmonella.

It's no surprise that people's trust in the government to stop these things from happening has eroded. Last year, Gallup found that people's trust in the federal government to ensure the safety of food supply was at a record low since 1999. Folks don't trust grocery shops much, either. Only 74% of the respondents said they trust that food at supermarkets is safe to eat.

People caring about what they are putting in their bodies plays a role in this worsening lack of trust, too. At least 50% of Americans say they're trying to eat more healthy foods; that's why awareness about food safety has become so important.

Amanda Deering, associate professor of food science at Purdue University, agrees. "Ten years ago it was a different thing. People weren't so wanting to have that information. Right now, they go looking for it," she said, referring to customers wanting to know where their food comes from.

How can we protect ourselves from pathogens in foods? With foods such as meat and vegetables that we cook, heat almost always does the job for us. It's fruit and fresh vegetables that we mostly have to worry about. Running water is good at getting rid of microorganisms on the surface of foods. Applying some pressure with hands during rinsing can help remove even more of them, as does drying them off with a towel.

Some people even prefer to rinse their veggies and fruit with solutions made from vinegar, baking soda, or lemon. But food scientist Linda Harris told NPR that this is going a bit overboard. She recommends not soaking produce in a bowl, as one piece of bacteria from one veggie might contaminate the water and everything else in the bowl.

Speaking of things being found where they shouldn't be, experts say that the biggest concern for manufacturers about foreign objects found in produce is traces of metal. Luckily, they do X-ray screenings to detect any stuff of that kind that shouldn't be there. Granted, it doesn't really safeguard against things like plastic, wood, and objects of human origin ending up in your food.

Insects, larvae, and other critters sometimes find their way into our produce. The FDA, however, anticipates these kinds of 'extra ingerdients'. Their Food Defect Levels Handbook states: "It is economically impractical to grow, harvest, or process raw products that are totally free of non-hazardous, naturally occurring, unavoidable defects."

So, what do you do if you find a latex glove in your burger? If you want to complain, experts recommend preserving the evidence as best as you can. That means putting the food with the foreign object in a safe container and then popping it into a freezer. It's also useful to keep the packaging and receipt, and take photographs of said food.