Evil weevils

Help_Wanted

Well I've just put a big tray of shortbread in the oven and wishing I hadn't started reading this article:eek:

I have never spotted anything in my flour but maybe I'm not looking close enough. I tend to throw anything out after the used by date so maybe I've been fortunate.

Makes you wonder what comes out the bakeries:D

Chippy

I had this problem years ago.....and I was so horrified that i became a Tupperware Rep! I threw out all my dried foods(cos they can live on the glue in the packets) and didn't replace the food until I had an airtight container to put the food staright in. I used to tell my story to my customers and as a result sold tons and tons of storage containers. I still use them now for all my packet foods and have never had a problem since!

MoneySavingMum_4

I'm grateful to engcbw for that post because I've had this problem with all sorts of flour - self raising, plain, wholemeal etc. I've tried sealing the flour up in knotted plastic bags immediately after the first use, and have still discovered weevils on the next occasion I've come to use the flour.
I'm completely convinced that the weevils must be in the flour at the time of purchase - there is simply no other way they could have got past the tight knots at the top of the plastic bags. Maybe the freezer is the answer to kill the eggs off before they have chance to hatch. Not a nice thought that the eggs could be in there though - you can see the weevils, but you'd need a microscope to spot the eggs... yeuch!

Lil_Dee_2

For those of you that would like to know more about Psocids / Book Lice (they are the tiny, weeny ickle things that you may find in your flour) then you may find this article, erm, interesting ? It goes into detail about what seems to be quite an indepth study that someone did to invetigate where the psocids come from ie. are they in the flour when you buy it, or are they already in the home ? :eek: :eek:

If, however, you're a little squeemish about these things, don't click on the link !!!

Click here to read the article

Penny_Watcher

Lil_Dee wrote:

or are they already in the home ? :eek: :eek:

Oh bums!! Thanks for that - a VERY enlightening read. I actually found one in the suet last night when I went to make dumplings.:eek:

*feels the need to bleach whole house from top to bottom and seal everything in a tupperware box *

MoneySavingMum_4

eewwww :eek: I guess 268 bags is a decent enough sized sample to support their conclusion.
However, I haven't had any issues since we moved a while ago so maybe the little blighters were hiding somewhere in the crevices of the old house and I just wasn't getting them all with the cleaning. Makes me feel like a very bad housekeeper :embarasse
Have also been using those lock and lock containers for a while - perhaps that's what's been doing the trick...??

Ellie2758

Well I checked my flour bag yesterday - I was going to bake some cakes. Use-by date was May 2006, looked inside and it was full of DEAD weevils. Obviously they were past their use-by date too :rotfl:

Anyway, I've bowed to public pressure and put the new bag in the freezer and will boil the container before I empty the new flour into it in case the weevil eggs are living in the creases of the bag. Then I'm going to build myself a nuclear shelter and hide in there from the bogeyman, taking care not to step on any cracks in the path on my way up the garden.

whatatwit

Ok, having gone to make some bread, only to discover the evil weevils holding their 2006 Olympic Games in my flour.....
The question is do i use the flour or not?

In true OS fashion, it could be a cheap form of protein, but obviously I will not tell the vegetarian daughter.

whatatwit

Following a further search on MSE, I found this link.
http://www.insects-information.com/ungeziefer-e/vorratsschaedlinge-e/mehlmilben-e.html

Maybe I won't use the flour after all.

npsmama

Must go check my cupboards... (runs downstairs)