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Why You Can’t Let Bulk Foods Sit Uneaten For Years

Today was NOT starting well… must be because it’s a Monday.

It started off with a HUGE mess when making almond milk. I put too much liquid in the blender, the lid came off, and it went seemingly everywhere. About fifteen minutes later we had it cleaned up thanks to my ever-forgiving wife.

Later, my youngest son and I had to make some peanut butter oatmeal cookies as part of a Cub Scout requirement.

When we got into the large bin of oats I occasionally get into I didn’t notice anything right off the bat:

oats-bugs-1

It was only until I grabbed one of the measuring cups we keep in these types of containers that I noticed something wasn’t quite right. Unfortunately, I went ahead and washed them out before I decided to take pictures but it looked like somebody had measured out some cinnamon spice or something similar and then tossed the measuring cups back into the oat container without washing them.

In fact, pickup a handful of the oats and you might not notice anything with a mere glace:

oats-bugs-2

But if you look closer you can see them:

oats-bugs-3

Tiny little brown bugs!! I’m guessing they’re young weevils but they are certainly ALL OVER my oats.

That was disappointing because I had about a third of the container that I tossed out. I haven’t actually got into the oats in quite a long time since (for some reason) we got out of the habit of eating oatmeal for breakfast.

The funny thing is that I actually got into these same oats a handful of days ago to make oatmeal for breakfast and didn’t notice anything unusual at the time.

I’d be surprised if these bugs weren’t already alive and moving around at the time and I just didn’t see them… odds are I ate a few bugs in my oatmeal that day. 🙂

Anyway, we probably had these oats opened and in this container for at least a year and a half (since we moved to Washington state) and looking back that was probably a bit too long.

After checking the other containers of rice and beans I didn’t see that they had spread but I did tighten the lids down nice and tight.

Lesson learned… eat my bulk foods faster!

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Damian Brindle

My latest book, The Survival Blueprint: How to Prepare Your Family for Disaster, can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJ49Y5X4

Comments

9 responses to “Why You Can’t Let Bulk Foods Sit Uneaten For Years”

  1. Alora

    We always used to find weevils in our cereal at my grandparents because we only stayed out there once a year or so my grandpa told me they wouldn’t hurt me so I just picked them out and went on eating

    Reply
  2. Starsky

    Also vac pack things in 1 gallon sizes vs 5 gallons at a time. Yes rotate your foods, but also store them in a manor so if something like this happens you loose less.

    Reply
  3. Vicki S

    Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup diatomatious earth (food grade) to you grains and beans and it will kill any insects that may be or get into your foods. And it is safe to eat so no worries about cleaning it off when you go to use it. Just a thought. It is cheap, effective and healthy 🙂

    Reply
  4. AppyHorsey

    Growing up we were sometimes a bit hungry. (Not “starving” but we certainly wasted VERY LITTLE food!) I remember many morning having “slightly sour” milk over my bug infested cereal. And GLAD to have it to eat. Like Patricia said, in the future we may find bugs to be a main part of our diets. Having said that, I have more money now and along with that comes “being picky” — I no longer “purposely” eat bugs OR sour milk. I am lucky enough to live on a farm, so anything with bugs (or sour) goes to the animals. I don’t feel that it’s being “wasted” that way — after all, they need to eat, too. I am still fairly “frugal” and I waste very little of anything. I also refuse to throw much of anything away, much to the dismay of my family… By the way, I enjoyed reading your article.

    Reply
    1. Damian Brindle

      I’m glad you still choose to live a more frugal lifestyle. It’s not an easy thing for us Americans to do. Sadly, I feel most people will have a rude awakening if/when SHTF and they’ll be forced to eat bug-infested oats and whatnot. Right now, however, I’d happily feed these oats to the animals.

      Reply
  5. CarrieV

    Oh, as long as you’re not a vegetarian you oughtn’t care too much about the extra protein in your oatmeal 😉 But yes, I agree that the compromise between throwing out good food and eating live bugs is to freeze the bugs and eat the grains after the little guys are dead.

    Also, I hope you were able to find some nice chickens (or even pigeons!) to give that oatmeal too? We gave our hens some stale-smelling oatmeal and they ate it right up.

    Reply
    1. Damian Brindle

      Giving the bug-infested oats to some chickens is a good idea and not one I’d thought about. In fact, I know a few families that may be interested. Thank you.

      Reply
  6. Patricia Hubbard

    Often when normal everyday items like flower and other grains the weevils are there, but as we learned from Grandma, when purchasing these items, you must put them in the freezer for a week to kill any weeviles or pantry moths nemphs. This can happen to grains you grow at home also. Ask grandma before you throw any food items away. Yes, I know the food and drug admin allows a certain percentage of rodent hair, poop etcetria in food product, it will happen with all food products, even the over look insects in home grown produce that you can. The answer is to know how to handle the items, not toss them. We ingest stuff everyday that evaides our eyes. In the SHTF days, we may see BUGS as part of our regular diet.

    Reply
    1. Damian Brindle

      I probably would have just boiled them to eat in a SHTF situation (maybe even been glad about it too) but no need today… heck, my kids hate oatmeal enough as it is. 😉 I can say that this oatmeal probably came from the LDS cannery and unless I was really worried about bugs I wouldn’t have bothered to try and freeze all the grains I get but maybe I should try to do so in the future. Thanks.

      Reply

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