I think I had better check mine in the morning. I haven't done any cooking that needs anything except salt and pepper and cinnamon in several years now. I am going to toss them whether there are weevils or not. I won't use them anyway.

I've never found weevils in any of my spices and I know I have kept some way too long. They are just kept in a kitchen cabinet above the microwave. There are so many in the cabinet that I often duplicate a spice when grocery shopping because I couldn't find one in the chock full cabinet, LOL. I would estimate that I have at least 50 jars and tins in the cabinet.

I've only ever found tiny bugs once, in ceyanne pepper of all things!! Here's a site to find out just how old your spices are. There are many more, including eco-friendly ways to use outdated spices (no weavels tho) if you google "outdated spices".

Here is a link that might be useful: How old are your spices?

Like Donna, I have never had a problem. I also have a HUGE amount of jars, but never dump any. Mine get used up. They live besides the stove, in a cabinet, on a
2 revolving dispensers, and the baking ones life in another cabinet... on a lower shelf. Keeping them away from hot areas is best.

Also, buying smaller amounts is a really good idea.

Moni

I am also guilty of having like a gazillion of different spices in my revolving cabinet. I was searching for a certain one and found one dated 1984! I have never had any kind of bugs though. I use the baking ones the most and some others hardly ever.
Joann

I never had weevils - or ANY kind of bugs - in my spices.

How old were those???

I've never had bugs in spices either. I'll use them as long as they still smell. I did borrow someone's spice once and it was so old it smelled musty. I didn't use it :)

Oh, I'm glad to hear that others have way, way too many spices. No bugs here, (that I know of!) but always do this silly search when looking for the one I want. And then, of course, I have to make a run to the store for that one, such as celery seed yesterday.

Arosegirl, if you have weevils in your spices, you will likely have them in many pantry items. Examine cereal, rice, pasta, flours, pet food, nuts, and even packaged items such as cookies, gravy mixes, and on and on.

IF you find that your problem is bigger than you think, please let me know. I can help.

I 'll never forget the time I was making a delectable pot of chili and after I had incorporated all of the many ingredients, I added some pearl barley (a great ingredient) before simmering for a couple of hours. I poured the barley right out of the box.....weevils and all!!!

So! What would you do? :-)

I kept mine in a spice cabinet I had built when we remodeled he kitchen, right beside the cooktop. Everything else is kept in the pantry across the room. No problem there. Thanks for the link to find out how old your spices are.

I remember many years ago when Mom had weevils in her dry cereals, flour etc. When they get in one place, they sure like to get into everything else. Check your other dry goods carefully Rose.

Rhizo, I know what I would have done, but did you eat it, knowing what was in there?

Rhizo, I could NOT have eaten that chili! Did you??

And what the heck is a weevil? I know from the conversation it's a bug, but are they big enough to see them crawling around??

I've never found bugs, but it doesn't surprise me. I admit to being a spice freak. Some women collect shoes; I collect spices. LOL! I have a spice organizer that holds 27 jars--more if you use those really small ones. It's full and I still have a shelf full. And that's after I went through and purged some I knew I wouldn't use again.

Never had weevils, and not sure what they look like, but, guess, I need to check mine. Some are getting pretty darn old too. I probably would replace very few. I dont use them much anymore, like I used to. Mine are in spice jars with tightly fit lids, and then in a wooden rack, and what doesnt fit there is on a shelf in a cabinet, to the left of my stove hood.

I don't keep many spices as I mostly use fresh herbs and citrus for flavoring food and, luckily, I've never encountered weevils. I did have some kind of worm hatch in an unopened container of sugared, spiced pecans while it was in the pantry. I was thankful that it was tightly sealed so they didn't infest the rest of my food. I was pretty grossed out, though.

Oh, dear - guess I'd better check mine. I don't even pay attention when I use a spice - I just use it and put it back in the cupboard - now I'm sick, thinking of what MIGHT have been put in my family's food! Thanks for the wake up call!

i knew my spices were out of date, but they were all spice island brand and hated to dump them...since then have been very careful to buy small sizes, or mrs. dash since we don't use salt, anymore...

Ah,yes. So nice to open the cupboard doors and have little moths fly out at you. Ugh. I also had them invade a plastic trash can that I kept dog kibble in. Now that was like something from a horror movie, I had to take container and all outside.

I keep my dry goods in the fridge because of it, but never had any problems with my jars of spices.

I keep flour, etc in the freezer until I open it and then in a tupperware. No bugs yet. Just cleaned out the spices and tossed some due to could not smell the spice/flavor.

Schoolhouse, I've read that bags of pet food are notorious for bugs! I've never seen any. I take it out of the bag and put it in a plastic pail, for easy scooping, but if the eggs are there, they'll hatch.

oh man when you get those darn things nothing is safe honestly it does not matter if the other cabinets are in other rooms get to checking every thing!! I got them when we lived in Dallas from some bird seed I bought for my Cockatiel, if you ever buy bird seed watch it because just about all of it comes with the lovely added benefit of the spawn of Satan the weevil as well as pantry moths!
They are darn near impossible to get rid of I threw out every single thing in my pantry many times washed it down with bleach had it exterminated and the darn things would return.
I was terrified I would move them here with me but thank GOD and knock on wood none have shown their ugly little faces.

They will eat through cardboard boxes, plastic bags, the only safe thing is a super tight seal on a glass jar or canister.
They love grains, rice, cereal, oatmeal, peanuts, mixes, they will eat everything.

I started putting a lot of my stuff in the freezer, like my flour, cornmeal, bisquick, rice, etc. I got the tupperware type containers for cereal but some of those do not seal tight enough and they find their way in. I now have a lot of the old style glass jars with the lock down lids, the metal pull down lock that seals it air and water tight. Those work well.

If you are not aware you also need to throw away any old very expired flour, bisquick, cake mixes, pancake mixes etc because they can get mold spores which can make it toxic to some people and cause allergic reactions and cause serious illness. To me not worth the risk so I keep mine in those sealed glass jars and in the freezer and toss when it gets old, my luck I would be one that would have the reaction.

and in many cases the weevil eggs are in those products and then hatch into the dreaded things in your cabinets under the right conditions. After I started checking the bird seed I was buying I could see them and the larvae of the moths in the seed. Now the bird did not mind they eat them but Lord have mercy they are dreadful. short of burning the house down I never found anyway to get rid of those stupid pantry moths.

Especially if you happen to buy pet food or seed or anything like that from a place that keeps it in a big warehouse or barn you are guaranteed to have bugs. The place I got my birdseed from had a huge barn type building they stacked it up in and one day they had the door open and you could see those moths everywhere.