Gross!!! Flour Beetles Everywhere!
Decorating By LittleMom Updated 16 Feb 2007 , 2:40pm by shelbur10
This was in the donut case at our local grocery store. I told tried to find the bakery person but I couldn't, then the manager wasn't in the store, then I just gave up, left the store and contacted their corporate office. They assured me that "a member of management" wil be contacting me personally - but that was two weeks ago.
The bugs are STILL THERE! Obviously, I'm done with that store. Even though it's a block away, I think I'll drive somewhere else and eat CLEAN food, thank you.
And I really wanted a donut, too. 
That is bad, Ive never seen or heard of those bugs. As masarost said you should contact the head office again, or your local health authority. Can these bugs make you sick? Nasty if i was you, i'ld never eat from there again, imagen what could be in the kitchen!!!!!
Oh my gosh. I'm gagging. Seriously. Shame on the bakery manager for allowing that.
UGH
If you called corporate and they didn't call back, call the Health Department IMMEDIATELY. I'd hate to see what's going on in the back.
Rachel
Call the Health Dept for sure. Just think if someone who's eyesight is not as good as yours, who can't see the little buggers, buys that stuff. Uck.
I was at a market and watched as a deli clerk dropped a piece of fried chicken on the floor. I stood around just to see what she would do. Sure enough, she picked it up and put in on the cart. Then proceded to put the dirty thing in the warming case with the rest of the chicken. Believe me, I got the manager there quickly. The clerk wasn't around after that. My goal wasn't to get her fired or anything but gee whiz, I see so many older folks who don't do much cooking for themselves buying prepaired food there, not to mention everyone else, that it just really irked me.
Ewww- it sounds like they're a pretty well established population too. Those things are really hard to get rid of, but especially so if you let them get out of control like that! Don't they have a regular health inspection? It seems that if you saw them in the case the inspector would have seen them too. Yuck!
Never heard of flour beetles - gross!!! I would call the health dept also - one only knows what must be in their other items! 
You can also bring them home from the store with you. When I was first married (oh so long ago) my kitchen became infested with them and I was told that I probably brought them home from the supermarket. I remember how hard it was to get rid of them. Everything had to be put in plastic containers. Ugh, I never want to go through that again.
You could call the health department, but if they are as few inspectors in your state as there are in mine, it will take them quite a while to check this place out. I think that after you notify the health department, I would let the management know that you plan on alerting the public as to the condition of their store by writing a letter to you local newspaper. If you don't want to do this then contact you local television and ask them to invistigate this problem. They usually love a good public health issue. The bugs could also come from already cooked dougnuts that have been sitting in the case for a long time. I use to work in a pet store and we were always recieving dog biscuits that had this problem. I would have to return them to the company and clorox the cabinet.
You can also bring them home from the store with you. When I was first married (oh so long ago) my kitchen became infested with them and I was told that I probably brought them home from the supermarket. I remember how hard it was to get rid of them. Everything had to be put in plastic containers. Ugh, I never want to go through that again.
This happened to me too! I couldn't figure out how I got them until my pest control guy told me that most people bring them home from stores. These bugs are also known as "pantry pests" and are carb-seekers. They will find their ways into anything with carbs (flour, cereal, pasta, etc), even when your package is unopened. I had to discard tons of food and all new foods were sealed in large freezer ziplocks until the bugs had nothing to live off of.
I'm told that they're harmless, but if you think about it, they have to poop sometime! yuck!
These things infested my flour a while back. I gutted my cabinets and threw out any perishable food that I had in the house. The bad thing is I just went to the store the day before I found them. I wasn't taking any chances so I threw out anything in a box or bag. I felt like I was throwing away money. 
I put my food in containers and freezer bags and put my new bag of flour in the freezer. Then I called the bug guy to come out and get rid of them. Thank goodness they are gone. It was such a pain. They also like spices, so you have to watch those as well. When going to the grocery store one thing to do is to check the packages. Damaged packages are more prone to having these critters. Even the cleanest stores can get them. It just matters on how they handle it. They need to take care of it quickly or it will get worse. So I would definatley follow up with the corporate office. They may already be taking care of the problem. If they haven't taken care of it yet let them know you will be calling the health dept on them. That should get them moving.
All flour contain the microscopic eggs of the flour beetle.
when the flour is stored in a warm or hot place and is not used up right away, they hatch.
Simple.
It's a NATURAL ingredient in ALL of your flour.
( one they don't list on the ingredients..lol)
The milling and bleaching proceedure does delay this from happening, so the best thing to do is not to purchase and store more flour than you will use...flour doesn't keep.
At home, I keep my bags in the fridge, since I live in Miami and I do no baking at home, I don't want to give my flour a chance to 'hatch'.
so gross!!!
my grandmother used to keep her flour in the refrigerator too, but will that screw up your cakes as they bake?
I don't know as I don' t bake with the flour at home, but...you say your grandmother kept her's in the fridge...did she bake? where her cakes...as you put it.."screwed up?"
All flour contain the microscopic eggs of the flour beetle.
when the flour is stored in a warm or hot place and is not used up right away, they hatch.
I did not know that!
One learns something new every day. We had a WHOLE class on flour during my bread baking at Culinary school and this is one of the things we studied in depth also
no my grandmother was not a baker. sorry, I guess screwed up was the wrong phrase. will the cold flour change the chemical balance and keep the cake from rising.
I don't think I really know the answer to your question, except to say that when I do use the flour that I store in my fridge..I do let it come to room temp before I use it.
with the training from school, you get everything you need ready before you start to cook...so I will measure out the flour I need to use and place it on the counter with my other things...and before you know it, it's back to room temp.
Most large bakeries keep the flour out because of the sheer volume they use that flour never has a chance to "hatch". I find that if the flour is hatching it's because the food wholesaler has stored it improperly also.
I've had them before(at home), but the thing is, I think I caught them right away before they could really get out and "do" anything so the damage was minimal. I also have a pretty quick rotation and flours all get stored in ziploc bags if they aren't in an icecream bucket... BUT, I was back home one time and they had bought some Jiffy pizza crust -- and it was just CRAWLING with them (EEEEWWWWW!)... Turns out my Ma had to go through all of the cabinets and threw a lot of stuff away and scrubbed everything well. Thankfully, they keep most everything in plastic tubs or plastic bags, so we knew the source without losing THAT much.
I agree... if contacting corporate or the store manager hasn't done anything... Call the Health Department or Department of Agriculture whoever is the heirarchy for licenses... I know my inspector has at least 2-3 days per week that are purposely left open for following up on issues like this (which thankfully are few because she's incredibly thorough.. It's all in how your state's inspection process is structured.
Then, if still no resolution, call the TV Station...
I had this happen to me a few years back too. Didn't use up my flour fast enough and there were tiny little bugs throughout the entire container.
Something I learned - when you bring your flour home from the store, keep it in the freezer for 1-3 days (I do 24 hours and that has worked for me). I think freezing the flour keeps the bugs from hatching. After it's been in the freezer for about a day I pour it in my plastic container and keep it in the pantry. Haven't had a problem since doing this.
They are pretty gross, but really aren't going to hurt you. However, I would definitely make sure the store and bakery managers were aware of what was going on in the bakery. Yuck!
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