Pagpag

Pagpag is leftover food from fast-food restaurants scavenged from garbage sites and dumps. The word in the Filipino language literally means to "shake off", and refers to the act of shaking the dirt off of the edible portion of the leftovers. The act of eating pagpag arose from the practical challenges of hunger that resulted from extreme poverty.

Pagpag could be eaten on site, or processed further most commonly by frying it in hot oil depending on the condition of the food. Small cottage industries have arisen around pagpag with impoverished people making a living scavenging, collecting, processing, and selling the processed pagpag to impoverished poor people.

Health risks include most food-borne illnesses and maladies, and could result in long-term debilitating diseases and death.

Pagpag is also a Filipino tradition saying one can never go home after attending a funeral unless they done the pagpag. Pagpag is a tradition to take away the soul of the dead people.