bugs in unopened bag of rice
 

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

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.


"Carol S." wrote in message
om...
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

"Carol S." wrote in message
om...

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?

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.

Carol S. wrote:
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


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.

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.

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.

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math
"John Smith" wrote in message
. com...
Carol S. wrote:
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


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.

Joseph Meehan wrote:
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.


Dead but still in the rice.

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.

"John Smith" wrote in message
Joseph Meehan wrote:
After a couple of days the CO² that flooded the container had killed
off any bugs that might have been in it.


Dead but still in the rice.

Protien. It's good for you.


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.

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

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 15:24:40 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"John Smith" wrote in message
Joseph Meehan wrote:
After a couple of days the CO² that flooded the container had killed
off any bugs that might have been in it.


Dead but still in the rice.

Protien. It's good for you.


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.

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


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

We always leave flour, rice, or anything like that in the freezer for a
couple of days before storing it in the cupboard. Had a bad experience with
"pantry moths" a couple years ago. (in Alabama)
RJ
"Carol S." wrote in message
om...
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

John Smith wrote:
Joseph Meehan wrote:
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.


Dead but still in the rice.

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.

You are an optimist!

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 15:11:16 GMT, John Smith
wrote:

:) 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.


http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html#CHPTA


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


Dancing dog is back!
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/smartdog.wmv

On 4 Dec 2004 06:06:56 -0800, (Carol S.)
wrote:

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


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.

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 14:48:58 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

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

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.

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 14:53:19 GMT, John Smith wrote:

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.

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.

041204 1003 - Joseph Meehan posted:

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.

Nothing like a little protein with your fiber...

Carol S. wrote:
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

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.)

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

William W. Plummer wrote:

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.


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.

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

On Sat, 4 Dec 2004 16:41:54 -0600, (m Ransley) wrote:

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. grin jokingly.

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

"Jim B" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 4 Dec 2004 16:41:54 -0600, (m Ransley) wrote:

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. :-)

Yep, and eating rat crap right along with it.

Carol S. wrote:
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


Bugs live everywhere in the environment, so expecting a few NOT to hitch
a ride would be unrealistic. The USDA or somebody has a standard for
rodent parts in processed flour for a good reason - the wheat comes from
a BIG field, gets dumped into a BIG truck, taken to a BIG elevator, etc,
etc, etc. Whilst it is in the BIG field or the BIG elevator, the
rodents in the neighborhood come over for a BIG feast, with the bugs of
the neighborhood not far behind. They do what rodents and bugs do -
eat, ****, and reproduce. They do not excuse themselves from the table
to do so. The bugs don't do the Lamaze thing, they just lay eggs. Nice
and cozy inside or between a kernel of grain or a nut or an apple or a
head of lettuce. It's mostly the grain where it is noticeable because
nothing else conceals it so well or lasts as long. Sooooo.....any
foodstuffs kept around for a year are likely to experience several life
cycles of whatever hitches a ride. I doubt the little, teeny critters
breathe much - sort of like you and I being locked in the Sears Tower
for a year. If you like critter experiments buy a bag of nuts - or a
Hershey bar with almonds - put into a tightly sealed container and
forget about it for a year. :o) If you have year old food in the
kitchen, throw it out. If you have open packages of grain, nuts,
starch, corn meal, they are likely to have had some migrants move in.
Use this sort of food soon after it is brought home from the store. It
is truly a sinking feeling to spend the day cooking a big pot of
vegetable soup, add a little pasta to cook just prior to serving time,
and see the migrant population floating for the nearest island. Just
sink them and cook until done :o)

"Carol S." wrote:
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?

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
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.


Thanks for the replies. I think you are right, that they came with
the bag. I inspected everything in my pantry, and didn't see any sign
of other infested items. So, I guess I won't worry about it unless I
see more.

PJx wrote:
I never throw out the bug infested product. The weevils fall out
when you sift them with a screen bottom can or flour sifter.

I don't think I would sift out the bugs and then cook the rice - ick.
Also, I think this bag was 50% or more damaged, so it probably
wouldn't produce a quality bowl of rice - unless perhaps I wanted a
carb-reduced rice :-)

John Smith wrote in
. com:

Joseph Meehan wrote:
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.


Dead but still in the rice.

Hey,extra protein,no extra charge! (yuk!)


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.


You just have to inspect the package before you put it in your shopping
cart.Pasta,rice.
Flour,cereals,you have to get it home and open it before you know,then you
have to return it for a new one.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik-at-kua.net

"Lar" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 15:11:16 GMT, John Smith
wrote:

:) 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.


http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html#CHPTA


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


Dancing dog is back!
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/smartdog.wmv


Dancing dog is super! Congratulation for such a great work training that
Golden.
LOL all the time. I have bookmarked the link, plan to send to all dog lover
friends, hope is OK.

MG
MG

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 14:51:15 -0600, Jim B
wrote:

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 14:53:19 GMT, John Smith wrote:

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 places aroung here sell the plastic bucket for a very
reasonable price. I pay 50cents.

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 16:51:31 GMT, "MG" wrote:

:) Dancing dog is super! Congratulation for such a great work training that
:) Golden.
:) LOL all the time. I have bookmarked the link, plan to send to all dog lover
:) friends, hope is OK.
:)
:) MG
LOL ..I can't claim the link (much less the pup)..did what you are
doing myself...shoot, I can't even teach our Yorkie to keep her
oversized tongue in her mouth.


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


Dancing dog is back!
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/smartdog.wmv