Worms or Something in my Dried Beans?

Question

I have just taken three hours to make a home-made chili using dried, mixed beans (fava, garbanzo, chick peas, pinto, and kidney). May sound good to you but when I was putting in the chili powder and stirring it around, I noticed white thin, short (maybe 1/4" long) "things" in my chili. I can't tell if it's part of the beans or if my beans had worms hiding in them (they were pretty old (3 years) although stored in an airtight ziplock in my cabinet). At this point I'm ready to hurl, thinking that I've been taste testing this darn chili for the past hour.

The 'whatever it is' doesn't seem to have eyes. When I pick one out and look at it I can't tell what it is... When I smashed it, it smashed like one of the white beans, but I can't be sure. I don't think I want to hand over the chili to my husband (who has been at work all day

Anybody have any advice or have any idea if there could have been worms hiding in the beans themselves?

Thanks!


signed.... too freaked out to eat

Answer 1

3 year old beans are never good to eat...yeah might even be dead worms I wouldnt eat it.

Answer 2

Has the dog seen a vet? Dry skin can be a sign of a medical disorder, such as hypothyroidism...a thyroid panel should be under $30...I suggest making an appointment with the vet to rule out a medical issue first. There are some great skin and coat supplements on the market right now, too. Virbac makes EFA-Z plus, which contains beneficial oils and linoleic acid. For a "patch" until you figure out what the cause is, I'd suggest Humilac (made by Virbac, as well)...it's a spray humectant that does a good job of moisturizing the skin. They also make a great shampoo: Allergroom. Virbac products are sold at vet's offices, pet stores, or online. Your dog will tolerate more frequent bathing when you use a very high quality, soap-free shampoo that won't dry the skin. You can see what's available at your vet's office or look for one of these that I mentioned.

Answer 3

You do not say how many were there.

Air tight container cannot keep the worm out.

They stay in.

When the product is harvested, it may already have eggs on it, in storage the egg hatches and larva is formed, this looks like worm. If you see some thing flying out of the container and you had not see it when you close it last time then you can be sure that it came from the egg and it had fully matured in the mean time.

Some countries allow the product to be radiated with Gamma rays, it cooks/kills the eggs, and you do not see this happening.

Answer 4

Once I purchased some chile powder at a hispanic grocery store and as I started to measure it out I found that there were dead meal worms in it, so it is possible that whatever sort of worm or larva that you have could have been in the spices or the beans since they were so old.

Answer 5

Anything that is stored too long can get "bugs" in it. I store all of my dried beans, sugar, corn meal and flour in the freezer. Things will last a lot longer if frozen
Sorry about your chili,just chalk the experience up to a lesson learned, tho.

p.s. I once opened a mr. goodbar candy bar that had worms....nearly threw up at the sight of it......haven't been able to even look at a mr. goodbar since!

Answer 6

I don't think any of those answers answered her question. I believe it is part of the bean itself. I just cooked some pinto beans, and saw the things she described. They are the inside of the bean or embryo as someone said. How do you know how old beans are that are sold in bulk bins? I stored mine in a glass mason jar and am pretty sure nothing got in there.

Answer 7

if you have ever heard of mexican jumping beans, those have small insect larvae in them that are trying to escape. it is very possible that one or more of the types of beans that you used could have had something in them. In the future, I would not store dried beans for more than a year regardless of the method used. Just buy new ones when you need them. They are relatively inexpensive.

Answer 8

OK, its a bean part, but don't use ancient beans, there really not that hard to find.

Answer 9

Might be math larvae. Are there any small, beige moths in your larder/kitchen/cabinet. I had them in some dried grains in mine - dam moths were everywhere!

That's moth larvae. Calculating little bast*rds.

Answer 10

I used great value red beans to make a big pot of Chili. After the beans started to soften , I started noticing white worms boiling to the surface. 5 lbs of ground meat waisted . I wish my photo would have downloaded.