The Most Effective Way To Keep Pantry Pests Out Of Your Long Island Home

Do you know that there could be creatures lurking in your pantry, hiding inside your food packages? It may sound creepy, but it is true. A type of pest can come into your home with your grocery items and live inside the food you eat. They're called pantry pests or stored-product pests. These beetles, weevils, moths, and mites lay their eggs in stored food. This can happen at any point from farm to table. If you have an infested food item, these pests could become part of your dinner plans. Here are a few ways you can prevent this from happening.

Identification

You don't need to know the difference between a cigarette beetle, Indian meal moth, drugstore beetle, rice weevil, or any of the other pests that can infest your pantry foods. A bug in your food is a bug in your food. The trick is detecting the bugs before you eat them. We recommend sealed glass jars—or, at the very least, sealed plastic containers. When you bring items home from the store that come in a cardboard box, paper package, or thin plastic, transfer these items to a sturdy container.

The Benefits Of Containing Your Food

• A container will help you keep an infested item contained. Many pantry pests can chew through packaging and move from one product to another.
• A container keeps pests out. If you put an uncontained item into your pantry, your contained items will be safe from those pantry pests. Your containers will also keep other pests out of your food, such as ants, cockroaches, etc.
• A container keeps smells contained. This makes your stored food less of an attractant to ants, cockroaches, and other pests that can get into your home from the outside.
• If you open a container and find that an item has an infestation, you can easily dispose of it, clean the container, and arrest the infestation. Without containers, opening an infested package of food can begin a long ordeal of eliminating pests from your pantry or kitchen.

The Benefit Of Glass Containers

While glass containers are more expensive, they provide an important benefit that must be considered. Glass is much easier to see through. This can help you to detect subtle signs that a pantry pest has infested your food. When you open a plastic container and look inside, these signs might be buried. It is only when you notice insects crawling on your food or some other noticeable sign, such as webbing, that you realize you have a problem.

Looking through the side of a glass container can reveal insect larvae wiggling around. Some larvae are difficult to see because they are the same color as the food they're infesting. They'll be brown when they infest brown rice and white when they infest white rice. You may also see webbing at the bottom, which wouldn't be noticeable by looking into a plastic container.

Product Inspection

Before you bring grocery items home from the store, be sure to inspect them. If a product has any gaps, rips, or holes, don't purchase it. Check the due dates to make sure the products you're buying aren't past due. When items start to decay, they have a stronger scent and become more attractive to pests.

What To Do About An Infestation

If you use containers, you may not have to do anything about an infestation. You can dispose of the item outside of your home and clean the container. But, when an infestation takes root in your pantry, and you do not have your food contained, it is best to contact a licensed pest management professional. Pantry pests don't just lay their eggs in food items. They can lay them in cracks and gaps within your cabinets, shelves, and storage areas. These eggs must be addressed to arrest the infestation.

If you live in Long Island, remember that the licensed and experienced pest professionals here at Parkway Pest Services are always available to help you solve pest problems. We use the most advanced methods and products to resolve pantry pest infestations. Reach out to us today for immediate assistance.