BUGS IN UNCOOKED PASTA. Where do they come from?

Question

How do those little worm like larvae end up in my glass, sealed pasta jar? I have heard that the eggs are already in the wheat. Why does new pasta not usually have them, but old pasta gets the bugs? I have had them in boxes of pasta (Hamburger helper type boxes pasta.) I have seen them in flour also. Anyone know what’s going on with those little bugs? My mother would just scoop them out when they floated to the top of the water when she cooks the pasta. Are the safe to eat? (I’m sure they are, but here in America we tend to shy away from eating bugs.)

Answer 1

Gosh that brings back memories we were really broke then and I remember just scooping off the bugs cause they did float to the top of the boiling water and we were too poor to just go out to the store and replace it.. (we didn't die either)

We had what the exterminator called weevils in our rice, flour, pasta, cookies.. in the apartment we used to live in and they said the gal downstairs used to buy flour by the sack and it was in that. We had to clean out our cupboards completely.. throw out the stuff that was open. He sprayed the entire kitchen cupboards and baseboards. They didn't come back after that.. I am not sure if the neighbor stopped buying flour in sacks or what but she lived next door to the managers place so something must have happened :)

Answer 2

My husband who is an Italian chef and only uses fresh made pasta or pasta imported from Italy warned me that bug larva get into the pasta while it's being dried and eventually can hatch while in the pasta. Hence he will not use anything but fresh pasta or pasta imported from Italy and only recommends the storebrand Barilla if you want to avoid this problem. We actually had a large larvae show up in a dish my daughter ordered from one of the large national chain restaurants - one of the higher end ones - I won't say which one here. Just go with the advice above. We haven't eaten large chain Italian since. Thank goodness my hubby has a Sicilian Italian Restaurant and we can get good Italian without worrying about this ever again. My daughter used to eat any Italian anywhere and I didn't mind until his happened and he told me why!!!! It has to do with the cleanliness of conditions when the pasta is drying.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
BUGS IN UNCOOKED PASTA. Where do they come from?
How do those little worm like larvae end up in my glass, sealed pasta jar? I have heard that the eggs are already in the wheat. Why does new pasta not usually have them, but old pasta gets the bugs? I have had them in boxes of pasta (Hamburger helper type boxes pasta.) I have seen them in flour...

Answer 4

Where Does Pasta Come From

Answer 5

They are called Indian Meal Moths and they are very difficult to get rid of. They probably came into your house in a box of pasta or cereal. Get on a web browser and Goolge "Pantry Pests". If you have any luck getting rid of them, let me know.
Good luck.

Answer 6

They're called weevils (I believe thats the spelling). Once you have them in your home they will get into everything.
They get into bags of rice, bags of potatoes, boxes of cake mix, boxes of mac and cheese/hamburger helper.
Everything that comes home needs to be immediately placed into air tight sealed containers either glass or hard plastic continers.

Everything in your home needs to be inspected. Check everything now clean out and spray down all kitchen cabinets and shelves with a bleach solution. They start out looking like wood dust particles so make sure you get into all the little corners.

There are sites you can look at that will give you more information. Also even though technically I think you could mistakenly eat some and it would be fine I wouldn't want to eat anything contaminated with bugs.

http://www.pestproducts.com/weevils.htm
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=weevils&btnG=Google+Search

Answer 7

This is why when the store has pasta on special ten boxes for 10.00, I shy away from it because by the time I get to eat it all, it has weevils in it

Answer 8

You eat far more bugs than you realize. Grains are store in silos, and get larvae in them. Red food color (carmine) is made from crushed cochlear beatles. I throw out pasta that has the larvae in it, and store my flours in the freezer.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

I wouldn't be eating them, if only because that's gross dude.

You're right. The eggs are already present. It's like fruit flies. They are already in the fruit. They don't come into the house, they are born of the fruit. Fresh pasta won't have the little maggots until it gets old and the larve has had time to incubate, if you will.

BLECH!