[Pixelguy]

Newbie here on this forum. Question about food storage and preventing pests.

How does one prevent worms, moths and other pests in dry goods such as flour, rice, etc? I'm having a real problem with this. The pests are coming inside the sealed food packages from various stores. How do I kill/prevent these critters in long-term food storage?

I freeze the rice and pasta and keep the rest in air conditioned, indoor storage.

Your advice and direction to info. about this on this forum are welcome.

 

[Dorsai]

How long are you freezing the rice and pasta?

Are you keeping the food in the bags they were in at the store?

 

[kev]

How does one prevent worms, moths and other pests in dry goods such as flour, rice, etc? I'm having a real problem with this. The pests are coming inside the sealed food packages from various stores. How do I kill/prevent these critters in long-term food storage?

You may be referring to weevils. But I have never heard of a weevil turning into a moth????

Vacuum seal the products you can. The rest, like beans and rice, put the packages in a deep freezer for a week or so. This is the reason why I do not buy 50 pound bags of stuff.

This is how I store my beans, rice, and some pasta - Put the bags into the freezer, leave for a week or 2, spread some towels over the kitchen table, remove frozen bags and put them on the towel. There might be some frost on the bags, the towels will help dry any moisture off the outside of the bag. Then store as usual.

But, some people swear by the vacuum sealed mylar bags.

Personally, I disagree with the mentality - "I have 2 years of vacuum sealed beans, rice, pasta, flour,,,,,,,,."

 

[HFTB-PFTW]

I have read about 'pantry moths' but never seen them. I'd suggest you search on them to back up what I remember.

Once you have them, they are very difficult to get rid of. They will continue to infest new food brought into the area. I've read about people cleaning, bleaching AND painting to get rid of the things.

so - maybe your storage area is at fault here?

 

[regulator74]

I have read about 'pantry moths' but never seen them. I'd suggest you search on them to back up what I remember.

Once you have them, they are very difficult to get rid of. They will continue to infest new food brought into the area. I've read about people cleaning, bleaching AND painting to get rid of the things.

so - maybe your storage area is at fault here?

You are probably referring to Indian Meal moths. OMG!!!You DO NOT want an infestation of these critters. We rented a house once from a nice lady who shopped and the discount grocery store and she much have brought the moth eggs in by the car load. The larvae look like little worms (white) and they spin a cocoon and then become tiny moths and they are extremely hard to get rid of. We ended up moving out of that house. My wife to this day still puts things in the freezer because of it (even our regular non prepping stuff). The eggs can be in the folds of cardboard boxes on just about any product you buy. We always take items out of there boxes when possible just for this reason.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.uoguelph.ca/pdc/Factsheets/ImagesFactsheets/IndianMealMothLarvae.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.uoguelph.ca/pdc/Factsheets/Insect/IndianMealMoth.htm&usg=__NEy0KKYR_Thf33YB3_Y_GP4Ncd8=&h=216&w=216&sz=24&hl=en&start=2&sig2=ZFvVHqtr3y07-7j9tI7FKQ&um=1&tbnid=y6rAqZiC5N52XM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=107&ei=nZ42Sd2LMszAtgf7hq3ODg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dindian%2Bmeal%2Bmoths%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-USfficial%26hs%3DKPt%26sa%3DN

 

[meredith]

We get these here seasonally here in Oregon. I find them in cheap old dry goods from cheaper stores. The moth can lay eggs the underside inside part of lids and when you open it a small worm that you can not see yet will get in and start their life cycle.
They are NOT that big of a deal to get rid of. As long as you rotate your food and keep any eye on thing they never get bad or out of hand. I keep fly strips up in our food storage room and use that as a gauge. If I see one on there then I will look for the offending food item. It's usually something like cornmeal or pancake mix. They don't go for beans or rice unless they are Rice or Roni type foods.

 

[regulator74]

Yep we use to see them in the lids of flour products, and some spices. The lady we rented from had moved out of the house, but left all of here food, so thats why they were hard to get rid of. Since they were in different stages of their cycle it made it more difficult to exterminate. Foggers did not work well on the larve.

 

[TnMountainGirl]

Food Storage

Bugs do not like BAY LEAVES.... I use bay leaves in my grains to keep the little critters away. First freeze flour, beans, coffee, rice ect.. for 24 hours. Remove from freezer and return to room temperature. Add a few bay leaves to bottom of bucket or any airtight container that you plan to use. Fill your container with your grain(s) until half full, then add a few more bay leaves and continue filling your container. I have done this for years and have never had any bugs. This really works! The bay leaves do not change the taste or smell of your grains... I also lay a few bay leaves on my pantry shelves. This works for short-term or long-term storage.

 

[CraigorPam]

I would seriously research the use of FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth.
We'd used it in our pet's food .. not only kept the food 'clean', but wormed them well, too. hehe.
Here's just a quote from one of the pages I've read :
"Pure "food grade" Diatomaceous Earth, added to the grain so that every kernel is lightly coated, can protect the grain for as long as needed. Instead of retreating grain every six months as the chemical people do, DE only needs to be added only once, regardless of how long the storage lasts. When the grain is to be used, the Diatomaceous Earth can be easily removed, but need not be. Actually, since the product is "food grade," makes no difference in taste or in cooking quality, and adds 14 trace minerals, why not leave it in?"
Good luck !
OH ! I almost forgot .. I might be paranoid about buggy staples, but I usually scoop out 2C. quantities (a general rule for alot of recipes) and freeze those in seperate freezer ziplocs. That way, if there are any baddies to be found, chances are good the entire batch will not have been spoiled, you'd need only toss a bag or two, and it's easier to view them, too. :upsidedown: