What Are Grain-Based Items?
It’s easy to bring flour mites into your home without knowing.
So, how do you avoid them and what should you do if they’re already in your kitchen?
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Tomasz Klejdysz/iStock/GettyImages
What Do Flour Mites Look Like?
Their clawed legs are darker than their bodies which vary in color from yellow to brown-red.
Tips
If you see fine dust moving on your countertops, it’s probably flour mites.
Tomasz Klejdysz/iStock/GettyImages
However, these mites are difficult to see with the naked eye.
Do not use a chemical treatment to address a flour mite issue in a kitchen.
When organizing your dried pantry goods, look for containers that have lids with airtight rubber seals.
A microscopic image of a cheese mite, part of the family Acaridae.EdReschke/Photodisc
Also, keep an eye on your food items as you use them in the kitchen.
Rotate Your Pantry Goods
ensure to purchase stored goods in smaller quantities.
Try buying only what you will use in one to two months.
If one product expires before another, use it first to help you use up items in your pantry.
What Causes Flour Mites?
Inspect your pantry to find the cause of your flour mite issue and seek to eliminate it immediately.
Flour mites will not go away until the source of the problem is addressed.
Flour mites will not typically make you ill.
However, they may cause mild itching, also called “grocer’s itch.”
Flour and Grain Mites.University of Pennsylvania Extension.
Clemmons, Elizabeth A, and Douglas K Taylor.Booklice (Liposcelis Spp.
), Grain Mites (Acarus Siro), and Flour Beetles (Tribolium Spp.
6 (November 2016): 73743.
