Pest experts share advice for preserving kitchen ingredients

The new year is approaching and it’s a when you want your home and table to be filled with family and friends. Unfortunately, uninvited guests, such as pests can also find their way inside. Many people who do not usually bake may decide to bring out the flour and get an unwanted surprise, or family reaching for that morning cereal box could be in for a fright. That is why Terminix Pest experts Angela Tucker and Steve Kuhse join The Hype magazine via satellite to discuss tips to prevent pets from seeking shelter in your pantry. How to identify the most common pantry pests and simple steps to take if pantry pests become a problem.

Angela, what are some signs that I have unwanted visitors in my cabinets this time of year?

All right so some signs that you have unwanted visitors is when you go to open up your cabinet and when you look inside, you might see something that looks like this. Inside the flower you may see some larvae that’s our white kind of look like caterpillars crawling around coming out of the package you also may see some adult beetles and also some adult moths that may be flying or crawling around inside that cabinet. That’s an indication that you have unwanted pests in your cabinet.

Steve, what are the most common pets and what kinds of food are they attracted to?

Pantry pests are usually going to be a number of different small beetles reddish-brown in color quarter to 1/8 of an inch long and a few different moth species as well. They’re very general with regard to the types of food they feed on. It’s going to be dry food products and many times we find them within processed grains such as flour, pasta and also in whole grains – whether it’s beans or rice.

Angela, what should I be doing with the food to help keep them out?

All right so when you’re at the store you want to do is you want to look at the packaging. You want to make sure that you don’t see any kind of discoloration and also that you don’t see flour or whatever the product is coming out of really tiny holes where it looks like something could have been on the inside and coming out. Once you bring the package home and you open it up, what you want to do is anything that you have left over you want to put inside an airtight container. This could be glass, could be plastic. You could use a ziplock bag as well. This way you can see if there’s any pests that are already inside of there and you know to throw that away so that that’s not potentially investing other foods that you have in your cabinet. This will also prevent pests that may be coming from the outside such as the ants from getting into that food as well.

Steve, what are the biggest dangers with having these pests in my cabinets?

Here’s the good news! These insects do not sting, they do not bite, and they are not disease vectors. So, the most important thing to remember is if you have something you’re concerned about identify that source as quickly and as possible, in dispose of it so you don’t have to worry about that infestation spreading to the rest of your pantry.

Angela, how can I tell when the problem had move beyond my own remedies?

That’s a great question particularly with a lot of do-it-yourself out there on the internet. So say today you have a pest you throw away what you think is all of the contaminated packaging in 30 to 45 days you open up the cupboard and you see signs that you have those pests again it could be larvae on the shelf or you might even see some adults that’s an indication that you might have missed some food that needs to be thrown away or even a small mess inside your cabinet where you can have some pests that are feeding and living. Another sign that that is beyond your control is when you start seeing those same pests in your bedroom or your bathroom in areas where you’re not typically storing pests this is an indication that you need to get a professional to come out and help you identify what that pest is and then any kind of remediation such as more cleaning that needs to be done in order to get rid of that pest.

Where can we go for more information?

Many companies offer free inspection and identification purposes you can always contact us at Terminix.com

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER

Tags: DCypher Studios

About the Author

David Morales is the Executive Editor of The Hype magazine. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, David has a background as an artist manager, writer, blogger, drummer, and in the human services industry. He is passionate about helping others, learning and has a deep empathy for the creative process. You can follow his social media @dcypherstudios