Help Weevils In Flour

Decorating By rshippo Updated 1 Dec 2006 , 9:41pm by zoraya

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rshippo Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 8:06pm
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Hi
I just found weevils in my flour, okay not a problem I have just thrown the whole lot out. Not too happy as it was about 10 pounds. icon_cry.gif I buy 25lb bag in Sams open and put straight in sealed plastic container.
But here is my question although I sieve the flour and have not seen any for the rest of the bag I have already used. What about all the cookies and cakes I have made and given to people. Noone has said anything so I guess they are ok as are my husband and I.
i just looked on the net and it said to throw away and contaminated items but nothing about if you had already cooked them.
The sensible part of my brain says nothing could be alive after cooking but the yuck part says I not sure about the stuff I have already made.

I guess I am just looking for someone to tell me it will be okay.
thanks

26 replies
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Doug Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 8:11pm
post #2 of 27

the eggs are in all flour...so tiny impossible to get out...part the FDA's "acceptable" contamination.

and as for previous cooked foods...no harm done.

------

side note: I always keep my flower in the freezer just to keep it fresher and weevil free. too cold for them to hatch.....

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rshippo Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 8:13pm
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Thank you i feel better now.

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ShirleyW Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 8:25pm
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If you have Weevils in the flour I would guess you have them in any other dried foods that were near the flour. I had this happen once and had to throw everything away, have an exterminator spray and start all over again with buying new items. The exterminator told me they can even get under the lids of sealed tupperware containers. YUCK!

I know when my husband was in the Navy aboard aircraft carriers and they were out to sea for nine months at at time they had Weevils in all the bread products served at meals. The Captain told them not to worry about it, extra protein in their diet!

I could not do cakes that I am selling to people if I thought there were bugs in any product I used.

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czyadgrl Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 8:27pm
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what do these things look like?

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rshippo Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 8:42pm
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As the container I was keeping my flour in is quite large I have been storing it away from my kitchen next to my fridge. I don't have room in my kitchen for a fridge freezer so it lives in another room. So this should have prevented cross contamination wouldn't it???
Also weevils are little bugs about a cm long and there maggots are about 1/2 cm long. You generally see the bugs not the maggots I only found 1 bug and 3 maggots so they have probably only just hatched. Either way the flour in gone the tub has been washed with boiling water and soap.

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patticakesnc Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 8:48pm
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Yes definitly check out what was near the flour or in the same cabinet if in a cabinet.

I had this happen some years ago and everything was infected from the flour. (flour not even opened). My pasta, even my chocolate chips had them in it.

They are little black bugs. They are millie bugs. Disgusting yes! But it happens to most everyone.

If it happens to me I dispose of anything in a cardboard box or paper wrapper (boxed pasta, flour, sugar etc) unless it is sealed inside the box. Then I clean the cabinets with bleach and water to assure that I have killed anything I cannot see.

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dolfin Posted 10 Nov 2006 , 9:03pm
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FYI:

"Rice and granary weevils are harmless to people, houses, furniture, clothing and pets. They cannot bite or sting and they do not carry diseases. They will not feed on furniture, the house structure or other items. The harm they do is destruction of the seeds they infest and the annoyance of being in the wrong place.

Control requires locating and eliminating the infested whole grain. Small quantities of grain can be "saved" by controlling the weevils with heat or cold. Heating grain to 140 degrees F for 15 minutes or freezing at O degrees F for 3 days will kill all stages of weevils in the grain. Larger quantities may require disposal or professional fumigation.

Cupboards or shelves holding infested items should be emptied and thoroughly vacuum cleaned, paying special attention to cracks and corners. A light spray of household insecticide can be applied to cracks of empty shelves but spraying without locating and eliminating the infestation will not eradicate the problem. AirDevil is a low odor, crack and crevice aerosol which works well when eliminating weevils. For large infestations, use Suspend SC to kill the weevil population. " (from the internet)

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itsmylife Posted 11 Nov 2006 , 6:41pm
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The whole thing just gives me the heebie jeebies....
BUT here is a link to a page that shows a picture of a 'flour beetle'

www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/domest.htm#flour

I've had these little critters in my flour and my pasta before. I can't stand it when I see them, because I hate to throw all that food away icon_sad.gif .

I had a friend who worked for the FDA for about 20 years, and you wouldn't BELIEVE what they deem 'acceptable' in terms of contamination in foods (droppings, etc). Of course, there is going to be some sort of contamination no matter what you do.... but just looking at what they say is an 'acceptable level' is enough to make you wanna barf!
Denise

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Jenn1978 Posted 14 Nov 2006 , 6:38am
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yikes i just looked at the pictures and they gave me the creeps! YUCK!

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CarolAnn Posted 14 Nov 2006 , 6:56am
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I haven't seen weevels in my flour good in quite a while. BUT a couple years ago I had some teeny tiny round fuzzy looking bugs that were a bugger to get rid of. I figured if someone can say barf here I can say bugger....LOL Anyway, I'm always on the lookout for bugs in my cannisters. It frustrates me no end to get them in sealed containers but my hubby has to remind me that they come in the grainery pruducts. It's gross but what can you do? The last infestation I had was some kind of little moth and I was like a wild woman every time I opened my pantry and one flew out. I was whipping everything out right and left till I had to laugh at myself. Threw away all kinds of stuff and finally found a box of raisins that was about 80% moth shells. Haven't had any since but I'm always on alert. LOL

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kaychristensen Posted 14 Nov 2006 , 7:21am
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I have had this problem a couple of times. First time my dear grandma who's site wasn't to well. Would give me cake mixes and mac n cheese and such. She had them for awhile and hadn't used them. I usually cooked extra food and took her food. Any way I got a few boxes of BUGS didn't know till whole cupboard was contaminated. I bleached and cleaned and sprayed and got rid of them. I always checked from then on till she went in a home. Other time my sister had received food from a food bank when times were tough for them. I also had shared our food with there family. So when they received foods her family didn't care for she gave them to me. Yuck I got the bugs again. I don't keep my flour in freezer. But I do put noodles in there package inside of a zippy bag as a preventative measure. Also my DD is studing the meal worms in school for there science class. She is in the second grade. When the teacher told me they were going to study them I was suprised icon_surprised.gificon_surprised.gificon_surprised.gif to say the least. But it would be an interesting thing for kids to learn how they start out and grow to adult. But to me icon_cry.gif YUCK Sorry this is long but thought I would share.

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sweetness_221 Posted 15 Nov 2006 , 12:17am
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I just had a problem with those darn flour beetles. They were all in my flour so I gutted my cabinet and threw away anything that was open. Then I vacuumed out the cabinet and sprayed some bug spray in there. What's horrible is I was supposed to make my BIL's b-day cake this past weekend. He wanted a spice cake with buttercream frosting, and on the stove next to the cooling cake I found a dead flour beetle. I wasn't sure if it had come out of my cake mix. I had checked the mix before I made it and didn't see any. Maybe I should have sifted it. I just ran a fork through the lumps. I just couldn't bring myself to give him the cake so I ended up just buying a store bought cake and throwing the other one away (didn't have time to make another one). I couldn't bear the thought of him eating bugs. So after that I gutted all my cabinets. What's horrible is I just bought supplies for my DD's 1st Birthday cake and wasn't going to take any chances so I threw all of that away. It's like throwing money away. I'm going to start keeping my flour in the freezer from now on. I think I finally got rid of them. Haven't seen any lately. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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mconrey Posted 22 Nov 2006 , 6:05am
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Well, what happens is the weevil eggs can be in your flour when you buy it from the store. Then, if you don't use your flour quickly enough, they hatch and infest your flour and anything else they can get in to.

When I bring a new bag of flour home from the store, I pop it in the freezer for 24 hours and then store it in my rubbermaid container in the pantry - haven't had a problem with weevils since. [/url]

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Jopalis Posted 22 Nov 2006 , 6:22am
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I store my flour in the freezer. If you freeze it first and then take it out then you don't get them? Probably would if something else got them first right? Will keeping flour in freezer hurt it. I seal it up in double layer of zip locks... Have had them go inside the pasta. You can't really tell in spaghetti unless you know what you are looking for they go inside it. Hate those moths too. Have had them.....

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Kayakado Posted 22 Nov 2006 , 2:55pm
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A long, long time ago in a land far away... I had what looked like worms crawling across my kitchen ceiling headed toward the window. I couldn't imagine where they were coming from. I lived in an apartment and always felt I was at the mercy of the other tenants cleanliness or lack of. I finally realized they were coming from one of my cabinets. It turns out they had infested a box of dry cat food and were growing to humongous proportions on this protein rich food. The cat had passed away and this box of food was forgotten in the far back reaches of the top shelf. It was horrible and I never stored anything in that cabinet again that wasn't a canned good.

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destini377 Posted 22 Nov 2006 , 3:37pm
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Ok, officially grossed out now. Haven't had this problem yet but now on my way to check my dry goods.

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doescakestoo Posted 22 Nov 2006 , 3:51pm
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I don't know if this has been addressed yet. An old wives tale about bugs in flour: to keep them out place a couple of bay leaves on the flour to avoid the problem. I have done this for years and have had no problems. Of course if the bag that you brought home has them that is the problem. This is what my mom and grandmom taught me years ago.

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cakesbybert Posted 22 Nov 2006 , 4:12pm
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Quote:
Quote:

don't know if this has been addressed yet. An old wives tale about bugs in flour: to keep them out place a couple of bay leaves on the flour to avoid the problem. I have done this for years and have had no problems. Of course if the bag that you brought home has them that is the problem. This is what my mom and grandmom taught me years ago.





debiashwood - our mom and grandmother must have grew up in the same area - because that was what I was taught also. Also was told to put a stick of gum in the wrapper in the bag of flour - it seems to work also.

But as others have said - they are not harmful - just not what you want to think about eating - there will always be the eggs any grain based product.

I've seen great-grandmother sift them out of flour and use - you would never throw anything away just because of weevil - that would have been the ulimate sin of wastefullness. But then again we've all grow up in a different generation.

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Jopalis Posted 22 Nov 2006 , 5:09pm
post #20 of 27

Tried bay leaves courtesy of a Martha Stewart suggestion...Guess what? First of all, they were kind of a pain cuz if I forgot about them I ended up breaking them and had to pick the pieces out. Last but not least, they didn't seem to faze the weevils! I just keep it in the freezer. I get moths in rice. Try to seal that up good. OK I can't talk about this anymore or I won't want to cook.....LOL!

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Cakerer Posted 24 Nov 2006 , 4:28am
post #21 of 27

OK - I have now begun analyzing EVERYTHING in my pantry. After I read this post earlier in the week, i went throught the entire pantry! I bought new flour and inspected it very very very closely before I used it. The last straw came today when I went to make gravy at my moms. I began spooning through her flour to check it. I realized I'm officially obsessed. will storing the products in the fridge (not the freezer) prevent the weevils?

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TRisser Posted 24 Nov 2006 , 4:49am
post #22 of 27

freezing the flour kills the weevils and eggs and whatever else. I buy 25 Kg bags of flour (that's like 55lbs) and divide into 2.5 kg ziploc bags and place it in the freezer. They freeze forever (well, up to a year or so) and it doesn't affect the flour just the bugs.

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JanH Posted 24 Nov 2006 , 6:29am
post #23 of 27

Eyelash mites freak me out icon_sad.gif

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Jopalis Posted 29 Nov 2006 , 10:33pm
post #24 of 27

What is an eyelash mite?

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JanH Posted 30 Nov 2006 , 7:31am
post #25 of 27

I thought no one would ever ask icon_twisted.gif

Here's a link:

http://vision.about.com/od/basiceyehealth/f/eyelashmites.htm

Disclaimer: Not For the Faint of Heart !!!!!

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KHalstead Posted 1 Dec 2006 , 9:17pm
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okay JanH ......so nasty!! lol My brother lived in an apartment and he had the moth thingies in his pantry one time.....I remember him saying that it took him FOREVER to get rid of them...a box of rice ended up being the culprit.......I have never had any of these critters in my cabinet to my knowledge (which is probably a miracle considering I leave my pasta in the original boxes and just throw my whole bag of opened flour into a ziploc bag)....anyhow........one time about 3 yrs. ago when my 4 yr. old was a baby I bought a box of baby rice cereal.....you know how they come wrapped up in plastic??? Well, I opened it up and poured some into a bowl.....and noticed what I thought was just a darker colored flake in the baby cereal (the cereal kinda looks like instant mashed potato flakes for those of you that don't know) and I didn't think much of it and just added the warmed formula to it.......then I stirred the cereal and noticed it again.....and thought.....I'll just pick it out....well I stuck my finger tip into the cereal and it stuck to my finger and I lifted my finger up to see it and it was a little like wormy maggot looking thing......a really pale yellowish with tiny little brown lines on it.....I was like.......aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh and my DH said.....what ....what???? and I told him what was int he cereal....and he said ........yeah that can happen.......I was so grossed out.......I never found one in anything else and didn't think EVERYTHING in my cupboard was probably affected being that it was a brand new box.......but I did pour out the box of cereal and found at least 10 more in the box......these things were ALIVE!!!!!!! They were moving!!!!! How nasty is that!!! Oh.....my eyelashes are itchy and my head itches now.......I'm living in a hotel room right now (in amidst a move out of jersey) and I have all my flour and stuff in a big rubbermaid container in the van and I'm thinking about just chucking it all in the dumpster and starting over again with fresh in Ohio!!!!! yucky!!!!

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zoraya Posted 1 Dec 2006 , 9:41pm
post #27 of 27
Quote:
Originally Posted by KHalstead

Oh.....my eyelashes are itchy and my head itches now.......I'm living in a hotel room right now (in amidst a move out of jersey) and I have all my flour and stuff in a big rubbermaid container in the van and I'm thinking about just chucking it all in the dumpster and starting over again with fresh in Ohio!!!!! yucky!!!!




Oh, I wouldn't worry about the flour if I was you. You've heard those storeis about hotel beds, right. 20/20 specials and all that...
Sorry, couldn't resist icon_twisted.gif
I'm all grossed out by this thread and worried about my pantry now. Thanks ladies!! icon_razz.gif LOL

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