Boll weevils in pasta

Used to get these all the time in flour when living in the Middle East. It didn’t come without, not in the early days anyway. Only way was to put it in the freezer, and then sieve the little dead buggers out.
Weetabix was known locally as Weevilbrix at the time - nuff sed.

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When I first lived in Middle Easter countries, it was impossible to buy flour without weevils - usually just the tiny larvae - in.
Weetabix was known locally as Weevilbrix!

The only solution with flour was to put it in the freezer, to kill them, and then use a fine sieve. I gather they are not at all harmful, though.

One Christmas, same place, I wanted to make mincemeat - you couldn't buy it anywhere. The first lot of dried fruit had so many weevils (beetles and probably larvae) in it, I took it back to the shop.
Shopkeeper gave me replacements, assuring me that there were no 'animals' in this lot.
It all looked fine so I went ahead with my mincemeat - only just as I was tipping the last lot in, I spied some tiny black thing moving...
Sod it! Having got thus far I just carried on, couldn't waste all that sugar and hard-to-come-by dried fruit!
Nobody but me was any the wiser.

So I guess you don't want to read either of these articles which talk about the allowable levels of contaminants in our foods?

Including 20 maggots per 100grm of tined mushrooms?

www.livescience.com/55459-fda-acceptable-food-defects.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11581770/Hair-aphids-and-bugs-the-horrifying-stuff-we-unwittingly-eat.html

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I have always placed several bay leaves in flour, pasta, rice and other dry foods. It works well for me.

Not keen in Tesco at the best of times.

I found a piece of glass in some chicken purchased from Tesco once - about 15 years ago now. I phoned and they couldn't have been more disinterested if they had tried.

I've heard if you put the newly bought packets in the freezer for 24 hours any eggs or weevils in the dried goods will be killed

I am going to look through the cupboard now!

Thanks for the warning.

No, Tesco's own brand. Anyway I'll finish now. Just thought I'd warn you all. Thanks for your replies.

A spokeswoman for the supermarket giant said if a customer found something in their products that shouldn’t be there they should return it immediately so the company can carry out a ‘thorough investigation’.
Mrs O’Shea received a £10 voucher for her troubles.

aquagran was it this brand?
metro.co.uk/2013/10/22/dorset-mother-finds-hundreds-of-weevils-in-bag-of-tesco-pasta-4155938/

It wasn't out of date, and was sealed with one of those plastic clips. I really hope none escaped!

all normal disinfectants etc do not seem to get rid of them
I think you have to use one of those insecticidal smoke bombs. (clear everything - and children - out first!).

the children arrive and have a chuck out whilst tutting under their breath!
DS used to do this for his DGM (my MIL), then one day he found a very slightly over the date yogurt in our fridge and said he hoped I wasn't turning into DGM; he would have to go through our fridge and cupboards regularly .

I do check and throw flour etc out if it has gone past its sell-by date; and I don't trust those new packets with a resealable stick tab, always decant them into Tupperware or a glass jar (and cut out the sell-by date and pop it into the jar).

Yes, I've seen lots of cockroaches - but not in this country.

I always keep things for too long - the children arrive and have a chuck out whilst tutting under their breath!

I had this with flour that was stored in glass screw top jars, though it was quite old. I presume the eggs were in the flour and hatched out. I'm careful now not to keep things too long

My daughter has a problem finding these in a packet of pasta, she lives in middle east and since she found them in a packet they keep reappearing in the cupboard, all normal disinfectants etc do not seem to get rid of them. Do keep checking your cupboard to make sure none escaped.

That's OK. I know how upsetting it is to find something crawling about in your food!?

I know Badenkate, and thank you. I hope I didn't sound rude!

Very sorry aquagran, I was only trying to help!

I have always had them. Even ripping out the kitchen and replacing it didn't help - they still kept coming back. Worms/maggots in the summer and the moths in the autumn.

Recently, I've managed to get some sort of control over it. Opened packets are now decanted into glass jars which stand decoratively around the kitchen. You can see how much of each item (rice, flour, breadcrums, porridge oats, nuts, etc) you've got, and you can see if anything is crawling about. But mainly, as they are sealed with a rubber ring inside the lid, there is no danger of the infection spreading.

The worms are, in fact, quite nutritious, but I've never been able to eat them.

Having said that, I have never in my life seen a cockroach, even though I have lived in quite Southern climes.

But not boll ones - those eat cotton.

Don't know how to post sites, but as I previously posted, try Googling (if you can be bothered) "beetles in pasta" and you will find articles and pictures. Definitely weevils!