If you’re squeamish, especially regarding food, this might make your skin crawl. This family just did a Walmart grocery haul but was disgusted to see that their brand new box of Bisquick Baking Pancake Mix had some strange bespeckling. Here’s what it was and how you can prevent it from happening to you.
Infested pancake mix
In a trending video uploaded by mom @tbranom3, her daughter explains that they just bought a box of Bisquick from Walmart. Despite being completely sealed, it was already infested with pests, specifically flour weevils.
Flour weevils are a type of beetle that infests grains like flour, rice, pasta, cereals, baking mixes, and even pet food, according to Merlin Environmental. They are tiny, reddish brown, and have a flat oval shape.
Flour weevil is the colloquial name for the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and the confused flour beetle (Tribolium confusum), which look almost identical.
In the TikTok, there are dozens upon dozens of the weevils moving all throughout the flour.
“You can see them crawling around,” the teen says.
“Be careful with going shopping. When you go home, check your stuff,” she adds.
Multiple people in the comments section urged the family to return the box for a refund, which Walmart does allow.
How do flour weevils get into food?
These pests can infiltrate food in several ways. Some start at the source, laying eggs on the wheat kernel. Those eggs can survive the milling process and end up in the flour that you buy.
Weevils can also enter through cracks and crevices, windows, and doors in your home. And if you live in an apartment, they can migrate between units.
Weevils particularly love foods that are a bit damp, which is why they tend to go for flours and cereals that have already been opened and exposed to the atmosphere. This is why it’s important to keep weevil-attracting food in airtight containers.
Once weevils are in your food, they start to feed and quickly multiply, possibly infesting other items in your pantry.
How to prevent weevils
To prevent weevils from becoming a problem in your home, make sure to inspect food packaging to ensure you’re not bringing unwanted pests in. You should also store your flour and similar products in an airtight container.
How to get rid of weevils
If you have weevils, unfortunately, this likely means you’ll have to throw out several food items and commit to investing in airtight food storage containers.
- Inspect the area for pests and identify where there are signs of activity.
- Throw out all infested products.
- Deep clean the area where the weevils were with soap and water, paying special attention to any nooks and crannies.
- Transfer unaffected food to airtight containers.
Optional: Apply insecticide designed specifically for weevils.
What happens if you accidentally eat a weevil?
While it’s not a pleasant thought to think about accidentally consuming a weevil or its eggs, if it happens, you’ll be fine.
Flour weevils are generally not harmful to humans since they don’t carry diseases or produce toxins that affect the human body.
Are weevils dangerous?
If you do encounter a weevil, they’re not going to bite you.
Commenters react
“That happened to me years ago with Jiffy cornbread mix,” a person shared.
“I think these companies have cut down on using pesticides in warehouses, because a bunch of the flour, even paper goods in stores have been infested, lately,” a commenter theorized. We found no news reporting supporting this claim.
“I just got Mac n cheese boxes from our local store and same. I had to toss out everything from my pantry,” another said.
“That’s a manufacturing issue not Walmart,” a person pointed out.
@tbranom3 We just bought it a week ago #fyp #walmart #bug#shopping ♬ original sound – Boogieboo3
The Dialy Dot reached out to @tbranom3 for comment via TikTok direct message and comment, as well as to both comment Bisquick’s parent company and Walmart via email.
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