Ewww! There were bugs in my new bags of flour!

[ParisApril]

I bought

2 - 10kg/22lb bags of white bread flour.
2 - 10kg/22lb bags of whole wheat bread flour
1 - 5kg/11lbs of whole spelt flour
1 - 3kg/6lbs quick oats

at a local organic grain place and both bags of the white flour had little worms in it! I haven't opened the ww yet. It's in the freezer right now. The worst part was I made things with it and my family and I ate it before I noticed. (darn I can't find the vomit smilie)

They have offered to call me when the new flour is milled and will replace it for me but, just EWWW!

[staceychev]

Pantry moth larvae... hate them!!!!

[la mamita]

not uncommon and we deal with it all the time from buying out of bulk bins.

to avoid worms: i sift flour when we buy it, put it in the freezer for a while to kill anything off, and then will occasionally sift again before using. but a little protein never hurt anyone? (no, i too was disgusted after finding worms in my half-eaten cornbread....nasty)

[mumkimum]

:Puke

(I found the smiley you needed)

My sympathies, those gross me out too.

[treemom2]

That Man vs Wild guy is always saying that bugs have as much protein as chicken or fish lol. . .there are pretty much always bug eggs in your flour. You can either sift them out when they hatch or try to store your flour in the freezer. When I was little we never went through flour very fast (my parents didn't cook a lot unless it was a holiday) so we always had bugs in the flour and I remember my mom always sifting them out. It's funny though, my mom was always throwing food away because it didn't taste, look, or smell right but she was perfectly fine sifting out the bugs. Must have been something left over from her childhood. . .

[GoBecGo]

I'm sorry. It is gross for some people. I have to admit - i just sift them out if i'm cooking for anyone but me. If it's just for me....i just eat them! Sorry! Not as cute as a lamb but hey, beauty is only skin (carapace?) deep...

[Sativarain1]

I've had this happen once and threw the whole bag away.

[JessicaS]

I got pantry moths once and now I obsessively put all my grains in the freezer for a couple days. Atm I have a bunch of rice and popcorn in my freezer.

I have a deep freeze so even if I buy a big bag it goes in. Pantry moths are a complete nightmare.

[greenbeanmama]

So, besides sticking flour in the freezer and/or sifting it, what does one DO about the pantry moths? I am so tired of dealing with them right now - they are EVERYWHERE in our kitchen, and I mean everywhere. I got out a snack applesauce (individual serving) for my son, and there was a moth right under the seal flap thingy.

I am so sick of dealing with living THINGS in my house right now. The daddy long legs in the bathroom, the mice from the basement, the ants earlier this summer, and now the moths. Grrr! I know we bought a hundred-year-old house, but really! I'm beginning to feel like an Egyptian during the plagues...

[JessicaS]

You have to throw away anything in a plastic bags because they can get in plastic.

Cereal and all sorts of things like that need to be tossed. You have to take EVERYTHING out of the pantry and wipe it down. If it is in a box toss it.

I found them in crazy places like on the inside of shelves, how some have holes there to adjust shelves? They would lay eggs there! I actually put ducttape over the holes.

It was madness.

You can get traps from hardware stores.

Everything has to be in containers that can seal. I use glass jars for nuts, dried fruit, rice and other stuff like that. I got some glass cannisters for flour and sugar. I have some old school tupperware cannisters too.

[ParisApril]

Yes glass is great for storing flours and grains. I keep everything in large gallon sized pickle jars or smaller mason jars. That's how I knew there were bugs, I saw them through the glass but at least I have the comfort of knowing they couldn't have spread all over the place.

I have never had bugs in my flour before even without freezing. I go through it quickly because I bake a lot. I have decided to start freezing all my flours in the future though. I can't get my head around sifting then using the flour. It kinda seems like a pain.

Pantry moths sound horrible greenbeanmama! I wish you luck to get rid of those.