Hello! I opened up a bag of organic rough rye flour from the supermarket and it had these kind of web like strings attached to the paper. I am wondering whether it’s contaminated:

by Typical_Basil342

29 Comments

  1. thrownthrowaway666

    It looks like moths or something got inside. Don’t use it. But if you dump it out, I bet there’s bugs of some sort.

    I have a moth infestation since last year. My wife decided to bring a bag of bird seed inside the house!😱 and ever since the moths are inside. We had left for a week vacation when she did that. Came home to moth grubs all over, moths flying around. I’m still killing them. I’m not sure where they’re living, hatching and eating. I almost want to pay house painters to come and wash but I’m afraid it could be a waste of money

  2. I’m upvoting this. People need to learn to recognize pantry moths.

  3. beanie373boy

    Yes, moths. Discard.

    FYI, moths can eat a lot of different foods and can chew through paper and plastic packaging. Ziplocs likely won’t cut it. Jars, tupperwares, bins, etc. are the safest way to store all pantry foods, especially while you’re in the process of getting rid of moths.

    If you want a suggestion, cut your losses now. I bet half the people in this sub have had to trash tens or hundreds of $$ of ingredients due to infestation- keeping anything with bugs is just not worth the risk. Marie Kondo the shit out of your pantry- anything with any amount of moth evidence does not spark joy. The quicker & more ruthless you are, the quicker you’ll be free from infestation.

  4. axlloveshobbits

    Take this to your outside trash immediately. Do not leave this in the house.

  5. That looks bad and I suggest you toss it outside immediately. So they don’t spread.

    In the past I’ve had a moths problem with my flours. During the pandemic I wasn’t going to throw kilos of it, so I sifted all my flour and then put it in the freezer. From then on, every time I buy flours, seeds, etc I put them a few days in the freezer, to ensure anything in it won’t survive. It’s worked so far.

  6. thelovingentity

    I had the exact same thing in flour and wheat bran bags. It’s moths, it’s how they got into my apartment.

  7. Crafty_Two5432

    Best thing I ever did was buy flour in bulk (25 lb at Costco is $8) and put it in one of those twist top bins. It’s really saved me money by buying bulk AND by not having to throw anything away

  8. Typical_Basil342

    I just bought it from the supermarket, it was open for maybe 10 minutes as I tried to figure out what it was…. Now it is in the bin outside. Would they have gotten into anything else in this time?

  9. CraftFamiliar5243

    It looks like grain beetles. I’ve been battling them for a couple months. Let me tell you that cabinet is clean

  10. kennymo12

    Ugh, these things are next to impossible to completely get rid of. Been battling on & off for 20+ years.

  11. SuccessfulBorder2261

    I always sift my flour when I buy it, then put it in a seal tight container. I’ve found baby pantry weevils in them fresh off the shelf, so now I’m just paranoid 😅

  12. DamaSedalar

    Yep, food moths.
    I freeze my flour when i get it for at least a week to prevent this from happening

  13. DaanDaanne

    Flour moth larvae spin silk threads as they move, leading to clumping and the formation of these web-like structures in flour products. And it’s quite common. It’s hard to hide something tasty from it, especially if it’s a paper bag.

  14. RoyalClient6610

    This is why I immediately put my flour in a sealed plastic container. No one seems to believe me that flour contains these bugs and given the right conditions, they will just explode in your pantry cabinet. So know I just do what I was told to do in culinary school, immediately transfer from packaging and store in a sealed plastic storage bin/container.

  15. kennacakes

    I’m a funeral director and on first glance I thought it was cremated remains 😭💀

  16. morelliwatson

    Pantry moths. We lost thousands in food storage because of them and have been fighting it for over a year. It’s an actual nightmare. Get this out of your house ASAP.

  17. HolidaySupport8305

    I’ve found the best method is to invest in vacuum seal containers, and freeze all flour, grains or bulk goods for 5 days prior to putting in the pantry.

  18. Looks like moths, but could also be a fungus called Fusarium which looks a lot like moth webs.

  19. Least_Temperature_23

    Yep. Pantry moths/meal moths.
    I had a massive infestation of them some years ago, they came into the house in some bird seed I bought to put out for the birds.
    They got into everything in my cupboards. The larvae were dangling from silky threads everywhere I looked. They were in every bag and packet. Had to throw everything out. It took months to get rid of them.

  20. godlesswickedcreep

    Pantry moths. Personally don’t think it’s that big of a deal as I have had to deal with them a few times.

    1/ throw away anything contaminated

    2/ seal dry food in glass jars or plastic containers

    3/ place a sticky moth trap in your pantry

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