# I don't care for tiny bugs with my rice, how about you? (maybe TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006 "2004-07-07T20:53:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/21 "2004-07-08T23:26:27Z")
About two hours ago, I stopped at Wendy’s for a chicken sandwich and fries. I came back to work and sat at my desk and ate the sandwich. Then I took out the fries and began eating those…got about halfway through, then I happened to look down and saw a very large, plump, deep fat fried fly nestled amongst my fries. I very nearly threw up. I went back and showed the manager, who proceeded to offer me more fries. After suppressing the gorge rising in my throat, I replied that no, I would prefer a refund, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/22 "2004-07-09T00:54:25Z")
About a year ago, I was boiling rice to toss with mozzarella and garlic. Yum. I had a large sealed storage container of rice. I reached in without looking, and dumped several handfuls into the rapidly boiling water. A few minutes later, I notice that there was a strange, brownish scum on the surface. Which, when examined closely, looked like very very tiny thin brown beetles. They were so small it was hard to identify them. I opened the container and it was _swarming_ with the things. Mr. Lissar dragged it to the dumpster and I scrubbed out the cupboard and then ordered pizza. I do freeze all my dry goods for at least 24 hours now. Don’t anyone tell any stories about pizza, okay? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/23 "2004-07-09T01:23:32Z")
> [@Mishell](#): > > About two hours ago, I stopped at Wendy’s for a chicken sandwich and fries. I came back to work and sat at my desk and ate the sandwich. Then I took out the fries and began eating those…got about halfway through, then I happened to look down and saw a very large, plump, deep fat fried fly nestled amongst my fries. I very nearly threw up. I went back and showed the manager, who proceeded to offer me more fries. After suppressing the gorge rising in my throat, I replied that no, I would prefer a refund, thanks. Wow. For that experience, he should have offered you a hell of a lot more than more fries! Hubby and I were in a cafeteria-style restaurant in Virginia once, and hubby got a strawberry and banana compote with his meal. We were about halfway through our meals when he took a bite of his bananas and strawberries, and something was crunching! Well, gosh, neither strawberries nor bananas really crunch, y’know? So he checked, and there was a fake fingernail in his food! :eek: The manager was summoned, and the manager not only paid for both of our complete meals, but told us when we came back through, to stop in and ask for him by name, and he’d give us two more free meals. We never did get back to the area, but, IMHO, _that’s_ the way for a manager to handle a situation like that! ---
**Author:** ![tasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@tasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tasha)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/24 "2004-07-09T15:32:26Z")
I have been pretty lucky so far. I dread the day I realize I’ve eaten bugs or whatnot. I am perfectly fine with the idea I may have consumed something without at all knowing! But I fear the day I take a crunchy bite and look down to see half a bug. I have found bugs in food, but before I ate any, and I once found a fingernail in my food (take out) and I was grossed out, but I figured it could have been worse. I have heard on the news there is a food court here that has been shut down due to health hazards. The entire food court! How bad it must be! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/25 "2004-07-09T21:44:30Z")
I once tossed out a big pan of cooked beans because I thought they had worms. Turns out (according to mom), if you overcook dry beans, there’s a little nubbin thing that pops out. I’ve had bugs in rice too, and am glad to learn about the freezer trick. We don’t have nearly enough turnover in the pantry to be confident of a bug-free zone. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/26 "2004-07-09T23:56:34Z")
> [@](#): > > **norinew** > I had a very nice dinner going. Pork roast in the Crock Pot. Cinnamon apples frying in the pan. And a bag of Success Boil-in-bag brown and wild rice in a sauce pan of water. Just as the water came to a boil, I looked at the rice, and thought, gee, that’s funny, the grains of wild rice seem to be moving. Then I looked closer. There were little dark brown bugs scurrying about in my bag of rice! Aaaack! I hate when that happens. Have you ever had a similarly unsettling food experience? > [@](#): > > **badmana** > … > > Rice though, I never had a problem with. I always wash rice and let it sit before throwing it into my rice cooker. I find the little bugs (strange little 6? legged little mini-ant like things) float to the top. > > Any idea of what those creatures are and where I might look up some info on them? > [@](#): > > **Lissla Lissar** > > About a year ago, I was boiling rice to toss with mozzarella and garlic. Yum. I had a large sealed storage container of rice. I reached in without looking, and dumped several handfuls into the rapidly boiling water. A few minutes later, I notice that there was a strange, brownish scum on the surface. > > Which, when examined closely, looked like very very tiny thin brown beetles. They were so small it was hard to identify them. I opened the container and it was swarming with the things. Mr. Lissar dragged it to the dumpster and I scrubbed out the cupboard and then ordered pizza. Judging from the description in your posts, the bugs in question were likely either [Granary or Rice Weevils](http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2088.html) (also called Snout Weevils). I haven’t really had too much first-hand experience with them but my father used to work in sales for a Major Cereal and Cake Mix Company and one of his more unpleasant duties was making sure grocery stores had no old product on the shelves so that an unsuspecting consumer wouldn’t buy a cereal or cake mix box and find some unexpected living prizes inside. I used to wonder why he never ate cereal for breakfast that often. ---
**Author:** ![Cherry2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cherry2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry2000)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/27 "2004-07-10T04:02:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Askia: > …_and a half-formed bird embryo plopped right in the batter_. WARNING: not for the weak of stomach, or PETA members: Believe it or not, there is a Phillipino “delicacy” called [Balut](http://www.tribo.org/vegetables/balut.html) that is pretty close to that. No joke :eek: ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/28 "2004-07-10T04:36:20Z")
My mom got a fully formed bird… looked ready to hatch, if it hadn’t been dead, that is. I’m going to go throw up now. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/29 "2004-07-10T05:03:37Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > I’m going to go throw up now. I think I am going to join you. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006/30 "2004-07-10T05:18:29Z")
When I was in elementary school, in 4th grade, they had a little “salad bar” in the cafeteria, and they let us eat from it. I thought it was a “grown up” thing to get instead of the usual chicken nuggets and corn dogs. One of the items was tuna salad. I took one bite of that tuna and hated it, leaving a clump on it on my plate, as I got up to take the plate away, this teacher’s aide named Mrs. Harp (I haven’t forgotten) approached me. “Now you finish that, the salad bar isn’t meant to be wasted like that…” I sat there as she watched me eat that sludge…against my will. I probably took 15 minutes to eat a scoopfull of tuna. That was the first (and so far about only time) I had real food poisoning (as opposed to a mild case of diarrhea or something). It was awful…I still don’t like canned tuna at all, even though I now realize that the stuff I ate (with mayonaise and maybe egg) probably was sitting for an hour or two . I’ve had crawly rice before too. Now I keep things like rice and flour in containers in my freezer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-care-for-tiny-bugs-with-my-rice-how-about-you-maybe-tmi/254006.md?page=1)