Stored Product Pests That Put Food Items At Risk

There is nothing quite like opening a container of food and discovering you have bugs. Whether you actually see bugs crawling around, or you only see evidence that bugs are there, it can be quite disturbing.

In our service area, the stored-products pests we see the most are Indian meal moths, cigarette beetles, and drug store beetles. While these bugs can infest stored foods by coming into a home from the outside, what happens quite often is tainted food is brought into a home from the store. Therefore, DIY prevention of these insects begins with checking food packaging closely before purchase.

When tainted food is brought home and stored on your shelves, these bugs can go from package to package spreading through several items. Sealed plastic containers can help prevent this in two ways. First, you're likely to see an infestation if you pour a bag or box of food into a plastic container for storage. Second, sealed plastic containers will keep bugs from leaving or entering stored foods.

If stored-food pests come in from the outside, plastic containers can keep them out of your food but we understand that it isn't practical to put all your food products in containers, so here are a few tips to resist these insects.

• Routinely remove out of date products to make your food storage areas less attractive.
• Put new products toward the back of your shelves and older products to the front.
• Keep pantry floors and shelves clean of food particles.
• Learn to recognize the signs of pantry pests such as webbing in food, the presence of moths, caterpillars, or beetles in food storage areas, food clumped together, and unpleasant odors.

When stored-product pests infest your foods, it is best to call on the assistance of a professional. DIY control for food-infesting bugs is rarely effective and the last thing you need is to believe that your pest problem has been solved only to find out later that those bugs are still in your food. Yuck!

For targeted, systematic, and effective removal of Indian meal moths, cigarette beetles, drugstore beetles, and other pantry pests in College Grove and throughout Middle Tennessee, homeowners should start with a FREE home evaluation. The friendly professionals at All-American use green pest control, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods, and EPA approved products to give customers smart solutions and great results.