Post Punk Kitchen Forum

....to a little bug. I went to get my brown rice and noticed this little wormy type thing with a cocoon over it on the bag, then I noticed another and another. Then I saw that they were on all the rices, pastas, and beans. I saw one inside a pasta box as well. Then I found a moth like thing which must be what those turn into. I called my mom and she said to get rid of all the food and go buy some rubbermaid storage containers for all of my food. Bummer. That was a lot of food that was lost, but luckily nothing too expensive. Mainly white rice and white pasta I was using up.

I was so grossed out. This happen to anyone else?

This is a totally gross conversation, but I recently had a bit of an invasion in my pantry. Tiny, skinny brownish bugs. Got into my sushi rice, my nooch, my VWG but left my sugar, beans, brown rice and barley untouched. I vaccuumed them all up and moved all the stuff I could save into a different cabinet. It happened there, so I moved them AGAIN! And then I found them in a different cabinet and they seemed to be interested in my molasses, but I did not see any in the jar. I really hope they just leave me alone! I'm thinking wet towels and the vacuum aren't good enough.

YES. all the time actually. I don't mean to scare you, but in my experence, once you get these they are hard to get rid of.

First time was about 1.5 years ago. We threw out EVERYTHING. New stuff all went in sealed baggies (double bagged) or sealed tupperware. But then, months later, they came back. Next time I went and cleaned everything with bleach (even wiped down the cans and stuff). Still, they came back in a few times.

Either there is always just ONE LITTLE forker that I miss every time, or they are also living in my cupboards, somewhere where I can't reach them (I think this is it) Then if I accidently leave say, the millet open in the corner of the container, they will infest that.

Luckily, if I keep everything in containers, if one thing gets infested, the rest are safe. But I wipe down all the time with bleach anyways (carefully of course). It's really irritating, because I keep my kitchen really clean, but I feel so gross with this problem.

Over the weekend, I noticed a lot of little moths in the kitchen, they kept getting in my wine. So i know they got into SOMETHING SOMEWHERE and the little forkers have hatched into moths. I will have to go on a bug hunt.

Good luck to you...I hope this is the end for you. Like I said, I think they have a nest or something (EW) behind my wall.

Ugh, yes. We are currently fighting an on-going battle with pantry moths. I hate those little forkers. Pretty much the only thing I've found effective against them is containers with air-tight seals. Sealed plastic bags are useless, they will chew right through those. Anything with threads is out because moths lay their eggs on the rim of the lid and the caterpillars will crawl up the threads and get into the jar. Mason jars are ok, as long as they are sealed tightly. Skip the Rubbermaid unless they have true air-tight seals. The caterpillars are really tiny when they first hatch and they can get into the tiniest spaces. The recent pantry clean-out involved transferring everything into wide-mouth mason jars and vacuum-sealing them with a food sealer.
The vacuum is probably overkill, but I've grown desperate. This was pretty much the last-ditch solution because we've been having issues for months. The eggs are impervious to pretty much any cleaning method, so the only solution once you have them is air-tight barriers. They really like nuts and seeds so those live in the freezer permanently.

My only infestation led to quite an embarrassing situation...was just getting comfortable on the couch with a lady whom I had just started dating, when she noticed a steady stream of those larva thingies crawling up sleeve -- they had come from a stash of bird feed that was beside the couch. Lucky she was pretty cool about it and pretty much just squished them and we carried on (after I threw the bird feed on the balcony).

I ended up bleaching everything and have since only keep things totally sealed or in the fridge....little buggers are really hard to get rid of.

DO NOT RESTOCK YET

and don't use plastic. The only thing that keeps you from getting infested with pantry moths are hermetically sealed glass containers, like these http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitc ... d=10011037

I had the worst experience with those forkers, that led to lots of crying and money spent and having to move. You need to take everything out of all your cabinets, clean them with bleach and a toothbrush, including all canned and jarred food, put anything you kept in the freezer and wait at least a month before any major re-stocking. Because they come back, and back, and back.

The nice thing about the glass jars is that they can't get in or out of them, so god forbid it happen again, those crassholes will be contained!

Good luck + x's and o's

They do come back and back, but they go eventually. I got rid of them with a combination of airtight plastic containers and rotating things through the freezer.

Oh god. this thread is depressing me. I don't want to have to get glass jars...but maybe that is my problem. I use plastic tupperware containers and the mothers hubbard keep coming back.

We got the little moths once when I was in high school and it's stuck with me for a long time. I feel for you! I know that I would do the same thing (throw everything out) if it ever happened to me again. I keep my grains and flours and the like in tightly sealed containers as much as possible and it helps.

On the off chance that they are sneaking into the house in your grains or any bulk food you might have: put it in the freezer for 48 hours to kill anything that's already in there. Better yet, if you have the available freezer space - just keep everything in there.

You'll save money in the long run with glass containers since you won't have to keep throwing food out. You can get a 12-pack of wide mouth quart mason jars for about $15.00 and the big half-gallon jars for $2-$3 each. They work as well or better than just about everything else.

we had this problem once, I could see the wormy things up on my ceiling.

We threw everything away that appeared touched by these buggers. Empty out your cabinets but take out shelving too if you can because they can lay eggs in the cavities. I googled for all kinds of natural repellants, I think I ended up washing down the cabinets with vinegar then putting an essential oil on cotton pads and taping them inside the pantries.

We've had pantry moths flying around since and every now and then I see a little grub in the kitchen but thankfully nothing at all in the cabinets. I also used those pantry moth traps.

I've been looking in to those air tight properly sealed containers and may have to make the investment. The stress of those things in my cabinets and having to buy food all over again is just urgh.

I used to get these little flies in my rice and other pantry items that were in bags and plastic containers. It looked like they laid their eggs in my food, the eggs developed and the flies died. Like other people have said, I finally got rid of them by putting everything in glass jars. I save my pasta sauce jars and other glass jars so I already had a ton lying around. FF a couple years later and I still keep the majority of my items in glass but am now able to keep plastic bags of stuff in my cupboards again.

Been there & done that a few years back. I still see moths in the house at times. I even started keeping certain foods in the living room. I have yet to use the cabinets again. It grossed me out so bad.

What gets rid of the moths for good?

I have dealt with this too. They get into everything, even spices. I have found that they are especially prevalent when buying from the bulk bins (because of their open nature, I think) but I have also gotten them from a close box of baking mix at Trader Joe's and a new box of cereal I bought at a regular grocery store.

The problem is, and I had to learn this the hard way, they are not necessarily living in your pantry or your house and then "getting into" or invading the food you buy. They hitch a ride as tiny, non-visible eggs INSIDE THE BAG of grain, pasta, bean, spice or cereal and, when conditions are ripe, they hatch and wreak havoc. That's why they are tough to get rid of - you may be accidentally bringing them in again and again in NEW stock. What an expense and PIA to have to replace everything...ugh.

Anyway, the only thing I found that works is buying your grains/seeds/beans in smaller quantities that, if possible, allow for storage in the freezer and faster rotation/consumption. Yeah, people give me weird looks when they go for an ice cube and see the freezer chock full of lentils and quinoa instead of ice cream, but who cares, it works. Unfortunately, they still may exist as eggs on the frozen goods, they just don't have a chance to hatch and propogate before you eat the product.

Also, it sounds silly, but inspect your grains and dry goods when you bring them home for evidence of creepy crawlies. That is how I avoided disaster with that box of baking mix from TJ's...I could see black dots crawling around in it already!

1) throw out everything infected.
2) freeze EVERYTHING for AT LEAST 48 hours.
3) clean EVERYTHING with bleach
4) CALL PEST CONTROL - seriously, otherwise these little forkers are not going anywhere - they can keep reinfesting your kitchen for years and years if you don't get them killed off.
5) to prevent further incidents, always check new grains/flours/granolas/whatever the little forkers like to live in, and throw them in the freezer for 48 hours before you put it in your cupboard (this sounds annoying, but you can just use it out of the freezer for the first two days.

Oh man, I've had those things too and it forking sucks! Those forking forkers destroyed my whole stash of imported foods in Japan and I had no idea they were that hard to get rid of. Fortunately my problem was solved by moving 5000 miles away!
Good luck with getting rid of them quickly. And guard your chocolate cause they will eat it >_<

I also get the moth traps to use prophylactically so that if they start they are trapped early on. I need to get some and they didn't have it at the hardware store. But this reminds me I should do a freezer cycle.

I had weevils in some TVP a few weeks back too. Ack.

I found some in a Luna bar once. after I ate half of it.

Ugh, I feel ya! I lost a lot of stuff last week. I had some old brown rice flour in a ziploc bag and the little buggers hatched and borrowed out of the bag to infest all my other stuff. Little grubs got into anything in plastic. Thank goodness half of my stuff was in mason jars! Now it's all in glass jars or the glasslock tupperware.

I've had this happen a few times now and a lot of the times I didn't realize it until I had already eaten a bunch of the infested stuff! Blech!! I vacuum out the cupboards, spray down with bleach, and toss anything that may have been touched. I used to store all my flours in the freezer to prevent outbreaks until my entire freezer filled up with dried goods... It seems like as long as your stuff isn't sitting around for too long in your cupboard ( > 12 months) or was already really old at the store, you'll be ok.

Good luck!!

i can't even handle reading this whole thread for fear of being grossed out. i've had them and ever since i keep most of my pantry stuff in those bell glass jars.

Worst incident ever: Biiiiig jar of speculoos spread (which I can't get around here). Ate a big spoonful, looked into the jar... Moth larva!
I felt so queasy that I screwed the lid back on and threw the whole jar out.

In addition to glass jar storage, I put everything they might like in the freezer immediately after purchase. Sometimes I move stuff out of the freezer to make more room, but only after it's been frozen for a really long time. So far, I haven't had a problem with critters.

Wow, I can't believe all the people with the same problems. So far I think I have cleaned it all out. My pantry is actually in the laundry room so far away from my spice and goodie cupboards in the kitchen. Although all the goodies are in rubbermaid modules now. I took everything out of my pantry though and inspected it, and then wiped all the shelves with vinegar. I vacuumed good around the ceiling and floor. Then I vacuumed all over the laundry room behind the machines. Every time I go in there I inspect the ceiling inside the pantry and the room, and kill those pesky moths. I only found 3 since my big cleanout. Husband was a little disturbed by my yelling at these moths while trying to kill them.

Ugh,bugs.

I have had this happen I am so glad I read this thread as I will be very careful in what I buy and how I store. I am curious to know if most people happen to be in a certain part of the USA or if they are prevalent everywhere. I've never seen them and I hope never to see them.