Viral New Jersey Pasta Mystery Solved; Here’s Who the Dumped It, and Why!

According to reports, the enigma of who discarded hundreds of pounds of pasta in a New Jersey forest has been solved.

Residents of Middlesex County stated that the noodles originated from a for-sale residence in Old Bridge. A neighbor reported that a military veteran relocating out of the home after the death of his mother discovered an apparent cache of expired food.

New Jersey Dumped Pasta Mystery

Per WCSI, neighbor Keith Rost said the behavior is generational, stating, "I really feel like he was just attempting to clear out his parent's house, and they were undoubtedly stocked with COVID."

He observed that his relatives always kept a pantry stocked with canned goods and pasta "just in case."

This week, images of the pasta, which has since been removed from the banks of the Iresick Brook, went viral on social media, with the Department of Environmental Protection reporting no damage. Approximately 500 pounds of pasta were strewn across 25 feet of forest floor. According to Fox News, the pasta appeared wet following the weekend's torrential rainfall.

Nina Jochnowitz has received complaints from fellow residents of Old Bridge, New Jersey, a suburb located approximately 30 miles northeast of Trenton since she encountered thousands of them while campaigning for local office a few years ago. Typically, they contact her hoping she can persuade the municipality to clamp down on pyrotechnics or ATVs or remove trash from their curbs.

Last week, however, Jochnowitz received a call from a woman she encountered during that unsuccessful campaign to report an entirely different issue: "There is a pile of pasta deposited on the side of the stream."

Jochnowitz, a trained scientist, said she hopped in her vehicle to investigate. Someone had discarded hundreds of pounds of spaghetti, macaroni, and alphabet shapes in large piles along a stream in a wooded area where, according to Jochnowitz, people frequently discard construction materials, bed frames, and furnishings.

Per NY Times, the scene was reminiscent of the classic children's book 'Strega Nona' by Tomie dePaola, about a kind "grandma sorceress" whose magically overflowing pot flooded her Italian village with pasta.

Jochnowitz estimated that between 300 and 500 pounds of linguine had been abandoned in the woods to congeal. She photographed the linguine with her phone's camera, emailed a municipal official to report the discovery, and uploaded the photos to Facebook.

In a state renowned for its love of Italian cuisine, the community was soon consumed with hypotheses regarding who dumped the pasta and why.

Denise Bloom, a local Facebook group administrator in Old Bridge, described the incident as the "Great Pasta-gate of 2023." She reported that some locals have uploaded photos of a few strands on the ground and labeled them "impasta."

When photos of the dumped pasta were posted on a Reddit thread about New Jersey, puns and dad gags flourished. Someone stated, "The perpetrators should be sent to the state penitentiary."

Anthony Esposito, proprietor of Via Sposito, an Italian restaurant in Old Bridge serving spaghetti, linguine, penne, tortellini, and gnocchi, could only speculate about the origin of the pasta.

Lack of Waste Service on Old Bridge

Jochnowitz viewed the pasta, previously reported by NJ Advance Media, as evidence of the lack of bulk-waste service in Old Bridge, which is home to approximately 67,000 people. She said, "This has been a source of contention for many years."

Himanshu Shah, the town business administrator, stated in an email with the subject line 'Pasta Dumping' that the Department of Public Works visited the site and discovered "what appeared to be 15 wheelbarrow loads of illegally dumped pasta along a creek in a residential neighborhood" after photos of the pasta were shared on Facebook last week.

The Police Department dispatched an officer to take a report. Shah stated that two Public Works employees cleared the pasta and disposed of it appropriately "in less than an hour." It was unclear whether a sizable blade was used. Jochnowitz stated that the pasta was cooked, but Shah stated that it was undercooked pasta that had been removed from its packaging and had become mushy after several days of rain.

In a residential neighborhood, the Department of Public Works discovered what appeared to be 15 loads of unlawfully discarded pasta. Two Public Works employees scrubbed up and disposed of all the pasta in less than an hour after the police were dispatched, and a report was taken. The police department is investigating the incident, ABC7 reported.