My ancestors invented cooking just for this reason. This also
is a good example of the difference between edible and
palatable. When it comes to weevils always eat the smallest one.
The lesser of two weevils. On the other hand I don’t
eat large redfish or red drum because of the parasitic
worms in the meat though some say its quite harmless and
safe to do so. And if you eat bologna or hot dogs.....
“He’s into lateral thinking...”
I wish my wife was that kind to me.
Ya’ll must still be celebrating your honeymoon.
:-)
3 things:
1. Cool storage
2. Bay Leaves
3. If knowing the eggs are there is too much, Bay Leaves won’t make it more palatable.
http://www.thekitchn.com/tips-bay-leaves-in-the-pantry-69557
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/303286
Not a wives’ tale. It really works, particularly for long-term food storage (SHTF) of grains, oats, etc., especially those so-called vacuum sealed.
Just find an inexpensive source for Bay Leaves (bulk sources are a decent price/oz). We’ve always kept our pastas & grains in drawers near the floor or in a cool place and NEVER have had the problem described. Even before I discovered Bay Leaves.
Rich Pryor's brother: Hey Rich there's feet on my Almonds
Richard: Well you're the only one that ate a roach.
OK seriously. If you knew how foods {any food} is processed you'd loose your appetite. I used to work on refrigeration equipment for restaurants, slaughter houses & meat packing houses, and grocery stores. The 5 Star over priced restaurant is just as apt to have as many health code violations as the local fast food place. Last place I worked at was in a nursing home in maintenance. I kid you not they had a bean plant growing up through the floor.
It's not what you can see in foods that normally hurts you unless the food is obviously tainted such as a can that is puffed out etc. It's the microscopic bacteria and in some cases viruses pass on through handling that will likely make you sick especially in produce.
Pasta, flour, corn meal, cake mixes etc it's not that uncommon for a person to have bugs found in their purchase a few times in their lifetime. If it bothers you then toss it. If not the sanitary thing to do is rinse the pasta till free of bugs and cook it. Nothing in the pasta will survive cooking. Meat is a different matter. There are some things in meat you can't kill even by cooking if present called Pions I think.
It happens. Nothing can be perfect, and we need to stop being so spoiled we throw fits when something goes wrong.
Was it Weird Al that made “First-World Problems”?
I got some toilet paper last year that put out a ton of white powder all over me. I was actually scared there might be anthrax. I wrote the company and they likewise were apologetic and sent me coupons for free items.
The worst thing ever to happen to me with food was a large Hershey bar when I was a kid. I had gotten it from a drug store, and when I went to open it that night - maggots! My dad and I returned it to the store and they opened another couple bars - maggots! Contact to Hershey.
But bottom line, these are rarities. In my 45 years I have hardly ever experienced anything bad.
Crud happens, and we need to accept that.
You could go on a paleo diet ...
I wish I’d never touched pasta.
Once I purchased some cayenne pepper and there was a worm crawling in the pepper when I opened it, but I have not had a bad experience with pasts.
Grew up always checking the pasta and rice for the little critters. No big deal - it was just something that was done.
Big Church Spaghetti Dinner?
You have 16 minutes to make corn meal muffins.
The mix says to bake for 15 minutes, after mixing in an egg and water for lumpy batter, then to pour in a muffin pan.
You see two weevils in the batter!
Both are ‘lively’, you know you will only have time to evict one and that will be close ...
So, you go after the lesser of the two weevils.
I have always assumed bugs will sometimes be found in rice, beans and pastas.
I sort and check them before rinsing. Only thing that bugs me is sheer number.
That said I don’t find bugs often but, no biggie.
IIRC, the federal government knows there are bugs in much of the grain and that there is a standard at which the manufacturers may not exceed but they are fine with a low level of insects in the grain. The grain is stored in outdoor silos where infestation would be relatively easy.
The bugs are generally harmless but will exist in everything made from wheat, corn, oats or rice grown in the U.S. So, you would probably have to stop eating breads and cereals if you want to be sure no bugs ever pass through your lips.
You didn’t know there was an “allowable” amount of insects in our food?
No. This has never happened to me. I keep stuff covered and separated.
This is why one should never vote for the lesser of two weevils...
I found grain weevils in a couple new bags of Mothers Hubbard peanut butter cookies a few years back. I had just bought a few bags on sale at Christmas time from Petsmart and was shocked to see the bugs in them after we opened one up. I called MH and complained and they said that the weevils sometimes get in the bags in the manufacturing process. It was no big deal to them. But it can make a dog very sick.
I no longer buy cookies for our dogs- I make them homemade cookies every other week now.