Why I Will No Longer Buy From the Bulk Foods Bin

[Green_Bean]

Good suggestions, all. Thanks. I keep my grains in sealed jars because my mom had a bug infestation of the kind that Manduck mentioned. I don’t fault Whole Foods for the bugs. I’ll still shop there, but not from the bulk bins.

I think I’ll be doing the freezer thing from now on.

[ivylass]

I once had a bug infestation from some oranges from a neighbor. These flipping maggots were hanging from the ceiling. Spraying them with ammonia did wonders for that bloodthirsty streak.

I keep flour, sugar, bread, etc in the fridge.

[Lissla_Lissar]

I found this story on a food message board. The thread was entitled What Do You Do If Your Food Is Moving?

It’s great.

CAUTION: DO NOT READ THIS IF IT’S NEAR MEAL TIME!

SCENARIO: Mexican deli to which my office have been going for years, two weeks ago. I call up on the way in to grab a Chinese chicken salad (gotta love cell phones), which is usually very good, grab the paper sack, and head to the office. I open my paper sack, open up the plastic box that contains the salad… and an ENTIRE COLONY of silverfish swarmed (this is the only possible description) all over the table. There must have been thousands.

Before we continue, let me tell you that I am not calm of disposition. I am better than I used to be, but I have a nasty temper and an irritating habit of persevering, ever louder, until I get my way out of sheer deafness on the part of my interlocutor.

So, to return to our story, I screeched and threw the salad (silverfish and all) into the bag, which I taped to the roof of my car, and headed for the restaurant, where I became a maniac. I ranted. I raved. I drooled. I gestured as though all the pressured heritage of my long-dead Italian ancestors were escaping through my forearms. The kid at the front just shrugged, so I demanded “el gerente”, who came out and basically shrugged as well and said “Well you want another one then?”

We continued in the vein of PRSMDave ranting and causing several people to walk out and the manager acting like it was no big deal that his restaurant contained the world’s largest experimental breeding colony of creepy-crawlies, so I turned around and stuck the package back on my roof and drove to the health board’s address listed on the rating placard (which, BTW, was “B”). They were less than amused that I’d brought the evidence but sent an inspector out immédiatement post-haste sur-le-double and the restaurant was of course closed for vermin infestation.

[Manduck]

*Originally posted by Green Bean *
Good suggestions, all. Thanks. I keep my grains in sealed jars because my mom had a bug infestation of the kind that Manduck mentioned. I don’t fault Whole Foods for the bugs. I’ll still shop there, but not from the bulk bins.

I should mention that my infestation was not from bulk stuff. It was from a 20-pound pre-packaged sack of rice. I thought it would be smart to buy in quantity since rice keeps so well. The sack was in my cupboard for a few months before I had occasion to open it, so the infestation had really taken hold.

Anyway, I now just buy the little one and two pound bags, just like everybody else. And sometimes I buy a bit from the bulk bin

Seriously, I don’t think the bulk stuff is any more likely to have bugs in it than the packaged stuff.

[Judith_Prietht]

That silverfish story gave me the creeps. I hate silverfish. Hate them. I picked up a towel in my bathroom the other day and a huge silverfish crawled out of it. I was so horrified I stood frozen before I could wad up some toilet paper and smush it.

I once found a roach larva in a bowl of rice. I found it just in time.

[Guinastasia]

Eeeewww…silverfish! I absolutely hate silverfish-they look like little tiny leeches!

[Lissla_Lissar]

I’m glad you guys liked the story. It was my 500th post.