A reader wrote to us a while ago asking about a worm he found in his food (chicken chow mein, more precisely, although this probably isn’t relevant). He was wondering what kind of harm the worm could cause him, although it isn’t clear if he is worried about the health consequences of eating worms, or if he is wondering if the worm’s mere presence in his chow mein could cause him problems. We presume he was primarily concerned with the direct consumption of the worm, so our primary focus will be whether or not it is safe to eat worms, but we will also touch on the health repercussions of eating food in which worms are found.