A New Jersey man who was behind the mysterious 500 pounds of pasta found in the woods has been found. Earlier in May 2023, pictures of cooked pasta in the woods started circulating all over the internet, sending social media into a frenzy.
New Jersey Man Found Guilty of Dumping 500-Lbs Pasta
The 500 pounds of pasta was found dumped in a stream next to the Old Bridge Township, New Jersey in May 2023. The pasta included spaghetti, elbow pasta, and ziti which was spread across a 25-foot-wide area. The news of the mysterious 500 pounds cooked pasta soon became a topic of discussion and jokes on the internet.
One user joked, “It was pasta expiration date.”
Another added, “It was in tribute to a famous Italian chef who sadly pasta way.”
Nina Jochnowitz, who was running for town council, was contacted by local citizens over the pasta dump in the Middlesex County woods. The town’s Public Works Department cleaned up the large dump of pasta after the news caught media attention.
Hundreds of pounds of pasta — “15 wheelbarrow loads” — were dumped in mounds along a creek in New Jersey — and no one knows why.
An administrator of a local Facebook group called it the “Great Pasta-gate of 2023.” https://t.co/0cbKPcsVI3 pic.twitter.com/PpQbRUsDVX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 5, 2023
The New Jersey man found guilty of dumping huge amounts of pasta near the Old Bridge stream will not be facing charges. The unidentified man was known to have a history of mental illness and was not charged with any punishment by the local authorities. NBC New York reported that a neighbour from the community stated that the New Jersey man had dumped the pasta while cleaning his parents’ house.
“I mean, I really feel like he was just trying to clear out his parents’ house and they were probably stocked up from COVID.”
According to the Old Bridge business administrator, Himanshu Shah, the pasta was uncooked when it was dumped but soaked up the moisture and appeared to be cooked.
“We would estimate several hundred pounds of uncooked pasta that was removed from the packaging and then dumped along the creek. It looks like it was only there for a short time, but moisture did start to soften some of the pasta.”
