Ooh, Gross! Weevils

I have had them before and pretty much had to throw so much away. NowI try to put everything in ziplocs or a sealed container after opening.
GL

I am 54 yrs old & I have always kept everything in Tupperware. It has a lifetime guarantee! I have never had any bugs in anything. Knock on wood.
I would do a good pantry cleaning and go thru everything. When in doubt . . throw it out.
Best of luck to you.

When you get your new flour and other stuff put a whole Bay leaf in there and that will help keep the Weevils away! Another thing you can try as far as the flour goes, keep it in its orginal package and place it in the freezer.

A. C

I just had the same problem. Here's the link to my request.
Good luck!

http://www.mamasource.com/request/17273763167431819265

I don't know what to tell you about the weevils, but I do have a funny story...

My great grandma had been treated like a servant by her husband her entire life. It was so bad in fact, that she went to live with my grandma (her daughter) when she was in her mid 70's.

One time she went back to visit her husband and the first thing he said to her was, "What are you making for supper?" She went to use the flour and there were weevils in it. She used the flour anyway and made her husband and his friend unknowingly eat the bugs!

Sweet, sweet revenge!

I don't know anything about throwing everything out or not, but when I was growing up my mom kept all her flour and stuff in large, nearly impossible to open containers (possibly the kind that hold paint at the paint stores, but I'm not sure) and she'd always throw in some of those things of super bubble bubble gum - you know the pink stuff that you can blow good bubbles with. She said it helps keep bugs out. She never had weavils in her flour.

Good luck getting rid of the weavils.

Sorry, but yes you will need to throw out everything. I've had them more than once. They are more than likely coming from your grocery store. The little buggers are in the folds of the cardboard boxes on your food and you don't know they are there until you see several of them.

Here's what helped in getting rid of them and really in helping to keep them out.

Throw out everything that isn't in a can, glass, or rubbermaid type container (but check the rubbermaid 'cuz they can sometimes get in the lips of the lid and bowl and get stuck).

Wash all your shelving down with bleach water.

Place Bay leaves througout the pantry (natural repellent).

When you restock, as much as possible store your foods in containers other than the cardboard they come in. They can't weevel through glass and hard plastics like they can cardboard and thin plastic.

It's an annoying little job but just think of it as an opportunity to organize and clean your pantry:)

I agree with all the other mom's- put flour products in zip-lock baggies from now on. Weevils get into anything boxed- cereal, hamburger helper, sugar, flour, pancake mix- anything not canned or sealed in zip lock- they can get into. If you have pets- I would check thier food too. We orginally got weevils from our dog food not being sealed- we got one of those giant sealed containers and have had no problems since!

I have not had a problem since I started keeping my flour in a sealed container, an old coffee can actually. Other flour products are kept in sealed containers and I circumvented this problem with pancake mix by putting the mix box and all in a gallon sized zip-lock baggie. If they get beyond the flour, you do have to check and/or throw everything out. We have also noticed in the last six months or so that we have to check all of the boxes coming from the store because we have found bugs in the Kraft Macaroni the day it comes in from the market.

My in-laws have this problem. I think in the small town that they live in the grocery stores must be contaminated because they seem to think that this will happen with flour after several days. But they keep it in the freezer, and the sugar too, and don't have a problem. It's never been in the rice or the cereal and they keep that in the pantry.

A.
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This is news to me that you would be told to throw everything away on the shelf. I have found weevils in cornmeal, flour and even pancake mix from time to time and never threw any thing away other then the product I found with weevils. In old times when times were hard they just picked out the weevils. However I would say just throw away the flour. Wash the container good. Don't buy more at the same store. B.

I have not seen weevils since I was a little girl. I keep my flour and cornmeal in plastic containers, also all my cereals. You might try doing this.
I do no think that they get into sugar ? You will need to check things such as your pancake mixes and other boxed items.
Good luck.

OK, I've had this problem on and off on an ongoing basis, we figured out most of it was coming from dog food, but has taken forever to clear up. you don't necessarily have to throw everything away, but you do have to sort through it all. I've found them in flour, sugar, oatmeal, rice, cereal, dogfood, cornmeal, you name it- except we've had some unsealed baking soda for a long time that doesn't fit in a baggy and haven't noticed anything there. Anyway, sort through it all if you want to keep it, and immediately seal everything up in sealed containers or bags. We go through cereal quickly so I don't seal cereal, but I do fold the flap over and clothespin it shut to make it less likely to be infested and we rarely have a problem with our cereal. sometimes I have also found brand new boxes of mac n cheese infested, so sometimes you come home from the store with it, which is why you have to keep everything sealed. FYI, even with bags sealed, you still have to be careful. We had cleared up our pantry, and one day I went to the top shelf, which has items I rarely used, and discovered some oatmeal and cornmeal horribly infested. If left long enough, the bugs can and will eat through a plastic bag or cardboard box, but this is rare and usually if an item is left a long time. Good luck, it's really gross, but fortunately not harmful. (I've cooked rice or pasta before, and seen the bugs float to the top and I've just picked them out and we've gone ahead and eaten the rice or pasta, so while it's extrememly unappetizing, it's not necessarily harmful).

When I lived in Louisiana and everyone around had that problem, we took some neighbor's advice and put our rice in a container with a bayleaf or 2. We were told they hate the smell (or something?) of bayleaves. We always kept our flour, brown sugar, coconut, etc in the freezer anyway #1 to keep out weevils and #2 it's humid and might clump without being in the freezer. We've never seen these things, so these tricks probably work.

Hi H., This is terrible and takes a lot of work, I've had to do it before. I lived in the mountains of NO. NV. and could not just run to the store. I had 20# bags of flour, meal, sugar, rice, even in the noodls. I asked the old timers in that area, and they said to get some whole BAY leaves and after cleaning all cabinets and drawers, place a few bay leaves around,.For containers, I was told to put 2-3 leaves into the top of container, and close the lid for a few days. After that I opened the lid and the weevels had all surfaced to the top and died. I dipped them out plus some around them, and they did not come back. To this day, I keep bay leaves in my cubbards, because you can buy a box of something at the grocer, and find it seeping a few grains out, and it will have weevels.
Hope this helps you. may sound silly, but it does work.
BF

You probably will. The only way to know for sure is to check everything. My niece recently went through this at her home and she had to have an exterminator come out. I know the name of a good exterminator that is reasonable and honest.
I would suggest that if you check the unopened cereal and it is not contaminated I would put it in the freezer for a while. I have only experienced weevils with flour so I always freeze my flour after bringing it home and so far this has worked for me. Then I put mine in a sealed container. Good luck.

As long as you live in the South it is best to keep all flour products in the freezer. I have a 17cu. and just keep everything in there. Best of luck.