# My rice got buggy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 20, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515 "2022-10-20T02:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/1 "2022-10-20T02:07:36Z")
I bought a cloth bag of rice at a local Asian grocery, because it’s cheaper that way, and did transfer some of it into Blue Bunny ice cream containers, which seal tightly. However, tonight I poured some from the zippered bag into my rice cooker, and guess what floated to the top? Since I don’t need extra protein that badly, I washed the cooker, replaced that rice with some from a sealed container, and am cooking the “buggy” rice to use as bird food. So, that’s my culinary adventure for the day. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/2 "2022-10-20T02:15:15Z")
The bugs may have come in with the rice, as eggs that hatched. I’ve had good luck with pheromone traps to eliminate a moth infestation. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/3 "2022-10-20T02:17:16Z")
I freeze my flour, and then store it in the refrigerator, for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/4 "2022-10-20T02:20:20Z")
I keep spare flour in the freezer. I bought a pandemic freezer, so now i always have space in the freezer. One of the drawers is perfectly sized for sale of flour. One all purpose, one bread, one whole wheat, one cornmeal, and a box of pastry flour. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/5 "2022-10-20T02:20:52Z")
Huh, that’s a possibility I hadn’t considered with the sealed bag of egg noodles I had that got infested… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/6 "2022-10-20T04:50:20Z")
I’m feeding a box of Quaker Oatmeal to the dogs over the next few days for the same reason. They each get about a half pack. I figure just enough to add a little flavor to the regular stuff. The last few envelopes have been bug-free, but what the hell. I don’t want it anyway. Gonna scour these little bastards out! ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/7 "2022-10-20T04:55:13Z")
heh the bugs im fighting are picky … if its not sweet or sugar filled they skip it … ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/8 "2022-10-20T04:57:34Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > if its not sweet or sugar filled they skip it … I think that’s called having a sweet mandible. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/9 "2022-10-20T05:46:08Z")
I put about half of said buggy rice into a large pot and put it on the stove to cook. I was completely unprepared for how much that rice would expand, because I’m not accustomed to cooking it in that quantity. So, I got out a bigger pan, and mission accomplished. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/10 "2022-10-20T06:30:33Z")
I lived in Micronesia for 3 years in the 1980s, and bugs in things like rice were a routine annoyance - the climate was ideal for pests to flourish, and since we relied on monthly shipments to bring us products like rice, we typically stockpiled staples for long periods of time - a perfect setting for bugs to take hold. It was fairly common to order food in a restaurant, which always came with a scoop of rice, and find little black bugs in the grains. Foreigners had a standing joke about how we all adjusted to the prevalence of bugs, claiming that you could tell how long someone had been on island by the way they reacted: **New arrival** - finds bugs in their scoop of rice, won’t eat it at all. **Starting to adjust after a few months** - finds bugs in their scoop of rice, fastidiously picks out the bugs and eats the rice anyway. **Been around long enough to become completely acculturated -** notices bugs, doesn’t care, eats rice anyway and considers the bugs a bit of extra protein. I know it sounds gross, but I made it to stage 3. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rice-got-buggy/973515/11 "2022-10-20T23:05:44Z")
I’m sure our ancestors dealt with #3 many, many times, in many variations. I once heard someone on TV talk about how third-world vegans got their Vitamin B12, and had some rather unpleasant theories, but really, a lot of it comes from the insects that hitched a ride on their fruits, vegetables, and grains.