To think that there are weevils in my bloody rice?

[DitaVonCheese]

Was going to make some rice the other day only to spot a critter hiding in it as I got it out of the cupboard. Usually I would pick it out and carry on regardless, but googled rice weevils (to confirm that that's what it was) and they have some fairly unsavoury habits which make me itch all over.

Anyway, I took it back to the supermarket in question, more because I wanted them to be aware that they may have a weevil problem than because I wanted my 68 pence back. The (extremely nice) customer services lady gave me my money back immediately but said she could see no weevil () - she insisted that it was a fly and that it must have got in after the packet was opened and that I should clean out my cupboards (which I cannot be arsed to do).

Despite her niceness, I am mildly irritated by this (and the 68p is doing nothing to soothe me). Photos of the offending creature are on my profile (blurry, due to crap camera, but you can see its distinctive snout). These are some examples of what the internet thinks a rice weevil looks like. Second photo on my profile is how the rice was stored in my cupboard - with the bag clipped shut, inside a sealed tupperware container. I am a slattern, tis true, but I think a weevil would struggle to get inside the bag in these conditions.

Jury verdict please!

[scottishmummy]

im repelled but fascinated,gosh is that how it looked in the pkt.eugh

[TheChristmasHolyHoneypeckle]

Ewww Lucky you noticed that! Definitely a weevil!

[DitaVonCheese]

If you find that repellent then don't google how much of your rice they like to make into homes for their grubs. I think there's just the one in there, so I'm hoping that it hasn't enjoyed too much weevilly sex amongst my grains. Still feeling slightly queasy about the inch of rice we've already eaten though.

[scottishmummy]

im repelled but i do like icky things too.curiously fascinating

[TheChristmasHolyHoneypeckle]

I will be examining my rice closely from now on!

[WhatNoLunchBreak]

In your words, that is a bloody weevil.

[bramblebooks]

are they jumping the grand canyon on tiny motor bikes? or just rows of buses?


(weevil kenivil)

[Maleeka]

Loving your tupperware! and awwwww at the little un but ewwww at weevils!!When the bloody hell are we gonna get vomit smileys ffs!!!

Sod that biscuit crap, i want a vomit smiley damnit!!!!

[Heated]

Yep, a weevil.

Do you not feel you've benefited from the extra protein?

[scottishmummy]

we need a wet boak emotion

[Uriel]

weevil

[DitaVonCheese]

I knew it was a bloody weevil! I shall be sending indignant emails to their head office forthwith.

bramble

Maleeka Why thank you 'Tis only Ikea.

Heated Don't think I needed it, but has probably done veggie DH the world of good

[teenyweenytadpole]

I think they are almost always in rice aren't they? Sort of dormant, but any warmth makes them hatch out. You get similar critters in flour too.

[DitaVonCheese]

Are they? I think it is time to revisit the Atkins diet

[ClaireDeLoon]

Was it tesco rice? I had weevils in their rice was vile I scrubbed my cupboards with bleach afterwards, binned all flour, pasta etc and like you put all stuff in containers.

I don't use rice all that often, even less now. I bet it was more than just my one bag of rice infected too so god knows how many have eaten weevils and not noticed.

[scottishmummy]

how prolific are weevils.i like rice,no liokey weevils

[FluffyForLifeNotJustForXmas]

I'm all itchy now. I brought some oragnic flour from Sainsburys last year, I didn't even open it, left it on the side and the little flour bastards were all over the place within a month. Bleugh! It's poor hygiene standards in the mills/where the rice is packaged IIRC.

[DitaVonCheese]

Quick googling suggests more common than I am entirely happy about, but then all the websites seem to say you should empty your cupboards and scrub with insecticide, which suggests to me this is not the kind of thing that you just shrug and ignore.

Female weevils lay 5-6 eggs a day, and hollow out grains of rice to lay each egg in, so the grubs hatch inside them and eat their way out. Which means that I have probably eaten weevil grubs

Claire It was Morrisons. I'm sure it can't just have been my bag, hence me telling them, but the lady really didn't want to do anything about it.

[ClaireDeLoon]

I googled at the time too and it seemed to suggest (if I remember right) that they are 'activated' by warmth or damp so they could be sealed in the supermarket packets and not be visible but if you open the packet they will hatch and reproduce. Hence me not liking rice that much anymore.

And yes the links I read said very common.

[maristella]

ewww we had evil weevils in our rice too! and before they appeared i noticed a few times that the rice had dark bits inside, then there were weevils everywhere!!
and yes me and ds ate the rice with dark bits - i was young!! i thought it was natural!!!

[edam]

ick ick ick ick ick. And for good measure.

I've heard about weevils, think I even found some years and years ago, but had managed to suppress the knowledge. Have eaten rice twice today.

[BrokenArm]

I found weevils in home-made-up pet food mix about 6 months ago (ugh, ugh). They didn't spread anywhere, and I didn't use insecticide, either. Just cleaned and inspected everywhere carefully.

[BrokenArm]

We lived in a town where you could buy 10 kg bags of basmati rice very cheaply. I had a student housemate (politics, read the FT even) who had rice that got so wet that it had green fungus all over it --
"Oh, it's fine to eat" he said, one night, as he washed the green fuzz off so that he could cook it (BOAK).

[megapixels]

You are right and the supermarket person was wrong. I have seen those in rice a long time ago and just washed it off and cooked it (cooked the rice that is). Am boaking and ing at my stupidity now after reading your horriblefascinating weevil facts.

[ScottishBoris]

Yak 'tis a weevil - bleach and clean yak yak yak.