I have a bag of “horchata” (imported from El Salvador) which I bought from a Latin market here in NJ. I bought it about two years ago, stuck it in the shelf and kind of forgot about it.
A couple of months ago, while cleaning, I found it again and I thought, hey, horchata, let’s make some of this!
As I was inspecting the bag I saw a bunch of bugs burrowing around the powder. Yikes. How is it possible that an insect can survive in a closed environment like that? It’s been in a dark shelf the whole time! I still have the bag and I check it periodically to see if the critters are still burrowing around and they certainly are.
Even plastic bags aren’t completely sealed from the outside world. The bugs (or eggs) were probably in the bag from the beginning and simply hatched and managed to stay alive on the food and any oxygen that permeated through the plastic.
it’s a plastic bag. Doesn’t feel like flimsy plastic either. You’d have trouble opening it with your hands.
I’m thinking they’ve been hatching continuously the whole time. I can see them geting sustenance from the horchata (it’s got rice and other crushed things in it), but where’s the oxygen coming from?
When I get home I’m taking a look at the bag to see if there’s any “packaged on” date stamp.
This is the only plausible explanation I can come up with. I’m going to wrap the bag in a good layer of aluminum foil and stash the bag away for another six months or so. That should be enough right?
You may be overestimating the oxygen requirement of those critters. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they simply hadn’t run out of the oxygen in the bag yet.
Spontaneous generation, clearly. Horchata is just loaded with pneuma!
But seriously, there had to have either been enough oxygen in the bag to begin with, or enough is getting through the seal to sustain them. Tiny insect don’t consume much of the stuff.
well I inspected the bag again and it seems to have a tiny leak somewhere. Had to squeeze it moderately hard but air is getting out. The bugs are not as visible anymore. I shook the bag for a few minutes before I could see one of the suckers. I plan on wasting a roll of clear plastic tape on it to seal any leaks. Then I shall seal the bag within water as suggested. We’ll see if those suckers survive after a month.
Can you really get plastic tape to be 100% watertight, especially under water for a month? I’d go with a jar, as someone suggested earlier, or a Tupperware-type container. Wouldn’t want to accidentally drown them.
