[PICTURE!] Bugs in Quinoa

amother

OP ↓

Sat, Oct 02 2021, 10:46 pm

(Apologies to Jewishfoodie)

I hate checking food for bugs. First of all, because it's a pain in the neck. Second of all, I don't know what I'm looking for!

(If anyone knows of a book that shows actual photos of the kinds of bugs I can expect to find in various produce, I'd appreciate it.)

For my contribution to the cause, since I heard that one must check quinoa, I dutifully bought a strainer and shake each 1 lb bag over a white surface to check it before cooking. Despite doing this with tens of bags of quinoa (DH eats it a lot), I never find anything. (The half-circle things are not worms, they are part of the quinoa.)

But then on Friday I got my first infested bag! Yay for me!

So l'toeles horabim, I am sharing a photo of what quinoa bugs (booklice?) look like in real life.

They were clearly moving around, and not at all the same shape as the quinoa pieces. I'm only sorry I didn't put a piece of quinoa down for scale, but the half circles should be a good guide.

And close up:

amother

↑ OP

Sat, Oct 02 2021, 11:05 pm

amother [ Cantaloupe ] wrote:

Thanks for sharing.
What brand?

This was Village Harvest (not my first time getting this brand). I usually get the Great Value one though. But I live way OOT, so probably different lots anyhow.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Oct 03 2021, 12:54 am

Eeep! Thanks for sharing!

Those bugs are super tiny. Kol hakavod for searching so well, even though it's such a pain.

You should get extra merit for being so careful, and for letting the rest of us know.

amother

Darkblue

Wed, Nov 09 2022, 2:22 pm

dankbar wrote:

Bakers choice has vaccum packed checked quinoa

Came on imamother to search if anyone ever mentioned this quinoa. Just threw away a bag with two black bugs.

amother

Mustard

Wed, Nov 09 2022, 6:49 pm

You're free to throw out anything you like, and tbh if I found a bug I would also chuck the whole thing, but according to halacha, it's not considered infested until you find three bugs. Once you find one bug you need to check the whole bag, but if you found only two, you can remove them and use the product if you don't find any more. Once you find three, it's all over.

https://vaadhakashrus.org/prod.....lour/