A little earlier tonight, I saw a post - actually, a rerun as I had seen the same post a few months ago - stating that some woman had licked an envelope that had cockroach eggs stuck to the glue strip. I ignored it the first time I saw it. But, this time, I couldnt let it go without doing a little research. You see, the fact that your mouth could be a convenient sort of incubator for insect eggs just did not resonate with me. The problem is that your saliva is full of very powerful enzymes that start breaking down food as soon as you start chewing it. So, to my mind, this would be not only unlikely but would be impossible! Turns out that this is just a variation on some Internet news that originally appeared about 15-16 yrs ago! What a surprise! Remember, folks, just because you read it on the Internet doesnt necessarily make it true! This is from a Snopes debunking of this urban myth: A similar cockroach eggs scare that began circulating in 2000 involved envelopes rather than tacos as the means of transmission: If you lick your envelopes ... You wont anymore! This lady was working in a post office in California, one day she licked the envelopes and postage stamps instead of using a sponge. That very day the lady cut her tongue on the envelope. A week later, she noticed an abnormal swelling of her tongue. She went to the doctor, and they found nothing wrong. Her tongue was not sore or anything. A couple of days later, her tongue started to swell more, and it began to get really sore, so sore, that she could not eat. She went back to the hospital, and demanded something be done. The doctor, took an x-ray of her tongue, and noticed a lump. He prepared her for minor surgery. When the doctor cut her tongue open, a live roach crawled out. There were roach eggs on the seal of the envelope. The egg was able to hatch inside of her tongue, because of her saliva. It was warm and moist ... This is a true story ... Pass it on Everything said about cockroach eggs earlier still applies. This incarnation of the tale was every bit as much a hoax as the taco one.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 10:37:08 +0000
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