When was the last time you checked your paprika? Let's put it this way – you should examine your paprika before adding it to your next recipe. It might be perfectly fine, but it could also be a breeding ground for a colony of insects.
There are various pantry pests that can invade your kitchen. You may have heard about flour beetles that eat their way out of flour bags and multiply by the hundreds, and yes, you can also find insects in spices. Among the most vulnerable to insect development are pepper-based spices like paprika, cayenne, and crushed chili.
Many chefs are familiar with the horror of opening a jar of paprika and discovering it's moving. Sometimes the culprits are tiny insects, and in other cases, they're small worms (more on that later). Often you won't notice them unless you look carefully, and then boom – without knowing, you've sprinkled them into your food.
How do these disgusting crawlers get into our spices, and what can we do to prevent them from getting there? And why are spices like paprika and cayenne more vulnerable than others? Here are all the answers.
What is it about paprika that bugs love so much? Judy M. Green, a certified entomologist, told the Huffington Post that although many spices tend to suffer insect damage, including turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel, and dry ginger, insects especially love spices made from peppers.
"Spices are rich in minerals and vitamins, and paprika and cayenne have a high prevalence of insect dirt compared to other spices," she said. It doesn't matter if your paprika is sweet or smoked – they're all pest-friendly. Green says insects "particularly enjoy products made from dried sweet peppers/chili/red pepper products such as red pepper flakes, paprika, chili powder, and cayenne."
But why? She says it provides them with a comfortable environment to thrive in. "The pepper family seems to contain the nutritional requirements needed to allow many generations of stored product food beetles to successfully sustain life," Green explained.
And if we think in terms of culinary use, paprika is particularly prone to insect invasion because it's a spice that isn't used very often. It sits unused in our spice racks for long periods, allowing insects to do their thing, undisturbed.
What exactly are these insects? The most common pests found in spices, especially in paprika and cayenne, are the cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle. Green says both beetles are from the same family, reddish-brown in color and "about the size of a sesame seed." They are active fliers, so it's not uncommon to hear them hitting surfaces in your kitchen if they escape from the spice jar and start flying. Green says they live in dried tobacco and medications (as their names suggest), but also in pet food, breakfast cereals, spices, and dried fruits.
Why do they sometimes look like worms? Sometimes your spices might appear to be infested with tiny worms. But these are actually the same creatures as the insects, just in baby form. If you think about the life cycle of an insect, it makes perfect sense.
"These specific pests are beetles, so they undergo complete metamorphosis (like a butterfly)," Green explained. "So they have an egg stage, larva, pupa, and adult. The worms reported in the spice are the larval form."
How do insects get into spices in the first place? Green explains that most imported spices may be contaminated with 'dirt' (i.e., insect parts), so there's a good chance a product could be infested after harvest. However, she says the more likely source of contamination is during the processing. Between the journey of spices from processing to consumption, insects have plenty of opportunities to sneak into the product.
"Adult beetles are active fliers and can enter storage facilities through cracks, open doors, unscreened windows, infested vehicles, and containers," Green said. "With an adequate food source and temperature-controlled environment, insects can thrive, reproduce, and eat. In processing facilities, storage, and even at the grocery store, infestations can pass on equipment and be in proximity to other infested products. Cigarette beetles and drugstore beetles are known to penetrate through packaging, aluminum foil, plastic, and tin."
Is there anything home cooks can do to stop this madness? Yes! Although your spices may always contain insect fragments that are beyond your control, you can at least end their life cycle to ensure they don't continue to reproduce. Here's what Green suggests:
Check the product in the store. Look for damaged packaging. If the container is transparent, look for larvae and beetles inside. Put your spices in the freezer for four days (make sure your freezer is set to 0 degrees Fahrenheit/-18 degrees Celsius) before placing them in your spice rack or pantry. If you bought the spice in bulk, keep what you want for future use in the freezer. Before freezing, divide it into airtight glass containers. Practice inventory rotation using the FIFO rule (first in, first out). Use the oldest products first, and keep them at the front of the pantry so you use them first. Then move on to newer products, which you'll keep at the back of the pantry and rotate forward when you're ready to use them. Clean up any food or beverage spills in your kitchen as soon as they happen. Now go check your spices with great concern. We know you want to.
