bugs in unopened bag of rice

[Carol S.]

Hi,

I had a bag of brown rice in my pantry for a long time (over a year) that was unopened. I finally decided to try it out, but when I poured it into a pot, there were little brown bugs crawling around it, and the rice grains were hollowed out. I threw it out, of course!

I'm pretty sure they were rice weevils, based on a google search. My question is do I have to throw out everything in my pantry now? I inspected a few other things and didn't see any signs of the bugs. Could they have just come along in that bag of rice to begin with, and then just stayed there? How can they live in a plastic bag for a year with no air or water?

Thanks, Carol Scheible [e-mail]

[twfsa]

We had some bugs in rice, pasta,flour, threw it all away, then put flour in the refrigerator, layed some bay leaves on the shelves in various areas of the pantry and no more bugs, weevils.

Tom.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Nah, the weevils were in the rice when you bought it. They had a nice life in the bag and probably never ventured out as they had plenty of good food where they lived.

In the future, store large amounts of rice, flour, etc in the fridge or vacuum seal it.

[John Smith]

Although rare, it's possible that the bugs came with the bag. I once bought a bag of 50 lb of rice and put it in a closet. Before I had a chance to open the bag, bugs crawled out of it. For the past 25 years, I typically buy 100 lb of rice a year. That's the only bag that had problems.

[m Ransley]

I went to Wall Mart and their black eye peas were infested with weavels. They eventualy changed brands. Bugs come from the field. Brown rice should always be freezed, the oils go rancid in apx 6 months. Bugs are everywhere, If other products look fine, they are.

[Joseph Meehan]

I had some friends who had a fix for that. They put the rice (or whatever dry product) in a container that would hold water. Add a block of dry ice on top and put a non-sealed top on it. After a couple of days the CO² that flooded the container had killed off any bugs that might have been in it.

I know it sounds bad, but you just don't get rice or flower or almost any food without some bugs in it.

[John Smith]

Dead but still in the rice.

Huh? Most rice are clean.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Protien. It's good for you.

Sure, I belive you. That is why we have government standards for how many rodent hairs and excrement are allowed in our food.

[PJx]

Exactly.

I never throw out the bug infested product. The weevils fall out when you sift them with a screen bottom can or flour sifter. No problem.

Pj

[rj]

[Joseph Meehan]

You are an optimist!

[Lar]

:) > I know it sounds bad, but you just don't get rice or flower or almost :) > any food without some bugs in it. :) > :) :) Huh? Most rice are clean.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

Dancing dog is back!

[Phisherman]

Inspect all your items for more weevils. Weevils can get through plastic bags but glass jars are safe. There's plenty of air and moisture in a bag of rice.

[Jim B]

I cannot say anything about flour, you NEVER store rice in fridge. We bought

50/lbs each trip to Costco (remember dish radiant heater?) and kept in plastic containers, it remain bugs free for more than a year.

[Jim B]

I bought 50 lbs each time from Costco, I pour it into 5 gal plastic pickle or food container. One 50 lbs takes 1-1/2 containers. When I have one containers left, I go and buy another bags and keep on doing it. These food containers are free at any restaurants or fast food. They throw tons away everyday.

Most people don't wash the rice properly (wash away the vitamins), they contain pesticides. Maybe Uncle Ben rice are process and don't need to wash.

[indago]

041204 1003 - Joseph Meehan posted:

Nothing like a little protein with your fiber...

[William W. Plummer]

Bugs in rice is common, especially if it is imported. I've always thought that's why they tell you to wash the rice before cooking it.

Bugs in birdseed are even more common. Sunflower seed produced a zillion flying type bugs. (My GF freeked out.)

[m Ransley]

JimB Brown and wild rice are best stored frozen, or the oil will become rancid in 6 months or less. As a matter of fact I just cooked 2 bags of

1 yr old brown rice, it is fine. Read the label on Kretchmers Wheat Germ it says "refrigerate", that is because of the oil in the germ or in rice the husk. White rice is different it wont go bad but freezing it wont hurt if it is airtight

[John Smith]

For the past 25 years, I have only had one bag of rice that had bugs in it. It's certainly not common to me.

[Jim B]

I dunno about your rice or wild rice. There are more than 3.5 billion (give or take a few hundred millions) eat their rice from cooked unfreeze storage rice whether it is white or unpolished. Can you imagine these billions kept their rice in a fridge? Many do not even know what a fridge is. :-)

OK, maybe processed rice like Uncle Ben, Rice-a-Rony and whatever you keep them as suggest by the label. As for the billions, they will laugh at you if you tell them to store rice in a fridge. They have been eating rice for thousands of years, way before some smart Alex invents the fridge. .