Baker shares severe bug warning as Christmas cookie season heats up

This baker was talking about a scary find in her flour.

TikTok user @jennaliveswell was horrified after discovering bugs in a jar of flour and is now warning people to check their dust before whipping up Christmas cakes and cookies.

“No,” Jenna gasped in her viral video as she zoomed in on the bugs. “The last time I used normal human flour was this time last year, YES were they chilling in my pantry all year?”

“Why didn’t my container prevent this?” she asked. “Did I buy flour that is already infected? If so, then the flour companies better do it.”

According to The Spruce, the creepy critters are called grubs and they infest flour, rice, cornmeal and other dry goods in the pantry.

@jennaliveswell

my reputation with bugs in this app is not very great i have so many questions 1. WHO TF RU? 2. where did you come from? 3. The last time I used normal people flour was this time last year, so they were just chilling in my pantry all year???? 4. why didn’t my container prevent this? 5. Did I buy flour that is already infected? if so, well, flour companies better do it #flour #bugs #bugtok #ew #holidaybaking

original sound – jennaliveswell

Some people in the comments sympathized with Jenna, saying that they have also found bad guys in their food.

“One time I found oats in my oatmeal and didn’t eat cereal for a year,” admitted one.

Others shared some tricks to help keep bugs at bay.

“If you leave bay leaves scattered around your pantry shelves, they keep fungus at bay. Change the sheets every few months. I learned it from my mother. I have never had mushrooms in my pantry or in my food,” advised another.

“We’ve always found that a few bay leaves in the cupboard are great for keeping fungus at bay!” someone suggested.

Food safety expert Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D., explained to Delish that freezing the flour for a week will kill any eggs that are in the powder.

Bakers can then thaw the flour before using it to make any desserts.

He added that while fungal infections are usually caused by improper storage, it’s also not necessarily something that can be controlled.

Contamination can start “further down the supply chain, such as during barn storage, distribution and storage at the retailer,” he said.

Quoc Le explained that the fungus infects whole kernels and lays eggs inside wheat grains before they are ground into flour.

“Kernels containing insects can pass visual inspection during processing, leading to increased scratches in the downstream product,” he said.

To prevent mushrooms from getting into your food, Quoc Le also suggests using airtight containers with “no openings or cracks” made of glass, metal or hard plastic, and keeping the pantry clear of any spilled flour.

“As for the flour that already contains scratches, the airtight container will not help protect the flour,” Quoc Le added. “But it will help prevent them from spreading and infecting other food in the pantry, or becoming a problem in the future if they manage to lay eggs in the pantry.