Whenever someone you know is storing food, one of the last phrases you ever want to hear them say is: "I have weevils in my oatmeal." Unfortunately, that is exactly how one recent Reddit post on the r/preppers subreddit began.
"I have weevils in my oatmeal containers," the poster asked. "Is there any way to kill the weevils before opening the container for consumption? Like freezing the container can kill the eggs and insects?"
Luckily, the old weevils-in-the-oatmeal conundrum was one that several other members of the emergency preparation-related subreddit were intimately familiar with.
"Freezing kills the [weevils] too. Not sure how long is ideal, I tend to put the containers in the freezer for 4 or 5 days," wrote one expert. "Sadly [weevils] are part and parcel of long term food storage. They are not harmful. More recently I started freezing when I bring things in the house. I have had just one contamination since, some whole wheat I rarely use and forgot about."
"Wouldn't there be weevil crap in the food too?" another worried commenter asked.
"Yes but it's negligible/insignificant. There's minuscule amounts of bug crap on everything we eat. Don't stress over it," another replied.
Weevils, for those fortunate enough to have never encountered them, are tiny beetles that love to get into stored grains and other food. While they aren't harmful to humans or pets, they can ruin your food stores — which is a waste of resources and money.
The Spruce recommends "[putting] a few bay leaves in your dried food containers, and […] several cloves of garlic around your pantry to deter these bugs from your kitchen and food storage."
Other members of the subreddit were grateful for the advice.
"I came here to give an answer my grandmother would have gave. I'm leaving with knowledge I didn't have before," wrote one commenter. "I did not know you could freeze pasta/rice/grains etc. I've always froze my bread, but that was mostly because it goes bad before I eat a whole loaf. Now I know that weevils aren't as bad as I thought, and I can freeze stuff to kill any bugs. Thanks reddit preppers!"
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