Wait…What!?! BUGS in my FLOUR?!? I debated on sharing this, especially the picture, but I want to alert all my fellow bakers to check your flour before using it. I’ve been using organic King Arthur flour for years but yesterday, when I opened a new bag, it was crawling with bugs! I was stunned. I closed the bag up and taped it shut. I immediately called the store to ask the manager to check the other bags.Then I emailed the King Arthur company (yesterday was a holiday – the 4th) and I received an automated reply:
“Wheat, like all plants, has naturally occurring insects and other organisms present in its environment. Once the flour goes through our pest mitigation processes and leaves our milling facility, it can be difficult to determine where/when/how insects get into the flour. There are some grain insects that can chew through the bags, and even some who can work their way in through the folds of the top & bottom of the bags.”
My first thought was, ‘if they have an automated reply, how often is this happening?’ I suppose it’s always a possibility but you need to know to check your flour before routinely using it in case the bugs are not as easily visible as mine were. Mine were having a family reunion!
I wondered if organic flour might be more appealing to weevils? I also wondered if they were more common years ago and that’s why sifters were invented?? The store manager told me it does not happen often with flour but that it does happen more with dried beans. This is not to freak you out but to make you aware that this can happen. I took the picture in a hurry so it’s kind of fuzzy, but you’ll thank me for not being able to see these ugly bugs clearly.
I can’t think of anything worse than seeing bugs in your flour… except maybe ants in your pants!