[ted_g (OP)]

Long story short: some FROZEN chicken got left in a family member's car by mistake. The chicken was in the original container (plastic wrap around a styrofoam tray) in a locked and sealed car (no open windows, etc) for a couple of days. When they went to use the car, an unholy smell led to a search of the back seat. On the car floor they found the forgotten, now rotten, chicken. Here's the thing: IT HAD MAGGOTS. How?

My understanding is the maggots come from fly larvae. How could a fly lay eggs on chicken that is in a factory sealed package in a locked car? This has got us all thinking that the fly larvae was there on the chicken BEFORE it was sealed and then it kind of...you know...defrosted along with the chicken and then hatched. Please tell me we're wrong. Otherwise veganism here we come.

[paul cotter]

Food factories are not operating theatre clean.

[alancalverd]

Most insect eggs can survive freezing - it's the species' alternative or backup to hibernation. Not a problem if the product is cooked from frozen or as soon as it is thawed, but clearly unpleasant after a few warm days.

If anything this anecdote supports the "dreadful" USDA procedure of chlorine-washing, which gets the primary product a bit closer to operating theater standards (hypochlorite is good enough for humans!).  But even if you kill the superficial insect eggs, plenty of bacteria can survive deep in the flesh and multiply like mad at room temperature.

[Petrochemicals]

I wonder whether the larvae can enter through the path the smell originated from. I imagine the cling film had bloated and come undone?

[paul cotter]

In connection with the phrase "hypochlorite is good enough for humans" here is story: a friend of mine was at an after hours drinking session in a licenced premises following some musical event where inordinate amounts of alcohol were consumed. Next morning one of the lads headed down to the bar to quench his ferocious thirst and finding a jug with a clear liquid he proceeded to drink it. It was bleach! I don't know how much got past his lips or what the immediate consequences were but I am told there were no unpleasant sequelae.

[Bored chemist]

I think Alan may have been referring to this sort of hypochlorite
https://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/products/sterilising-fluid

The problem with chlorinated chicken isn't the chlorine.
The problem is the reason why they need chlorine.
UK slaughterhouses are certainly not operating theatre clean.
Even if they were cleaned up, they wouldn't stay clean because we keep putting farmyard animals in them.
Those animals are probably roughly as "sterile" as the staff in either the surgery or the butchers.
One difference is that the humans know where the toilets are.

In the UK, the slaughterhouse practices are designed to keep the animals gut contents separate from the meat.
In the US, they aren't as careful- which obviously makes it cheaper.
But that slack separation means the meat gets contaminated .
Their solution is to add enough chlorine to sterilise the manure.
Our solution is not to add it to the food.

I really prefer ours, even though I accept it's not going to be perfect (which is why I cook stuff).

[Bored chemist]

But even if you kill the superficial insect eggs, plenty of bacteria can survive deep in the flesh

How did thy get there?
Was the chicken sick?

[evan_au]

Could a fly detect odor molecules from meat diffusing through cling-wrap?
Could a fly's ovipositor penetrate cling-wrap?

[ted_g (OP)]

Hey I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who posted a response to our Maggot Mystery. This was my first time using the forum and it was fun to read all the replies. I'm a high school history teacher and will definitely recommend this site to my STEM students. Thanks again.