Food moths: The larvae and eggs already contaminate your food.
Anyone who comes across food moths or their larvae when reaching into the pantry asks themselves the question: Have I already eaten infested products?
First of all: A visit to the doctor is usually not necessary, but discomfort can occur. It depends on how sensitive your digestion is to spoiled food .
Consequences after consumption
Food moths cause damage by contaminating supplies. However, they do not transmit diseases. Depending on your predisposition, your body can react to eating moth webs with:
- Gastrointestinal diseases
- Allergies
- Skin diseases
In most cases, however, the symptoms should disappear again after excreting the contaminated meal.
Grocery moths and your baby
If you are preparing baby food, webs are easy to notice. Dispose of the infected food immediately. The immune system of babies and small children is still developing and should therefore not be stressed.
Grocery moths and pets
Depending on the type of pet, food moths pose different levels of danger. An overview:
- Dogs usually tolerate spoiled things better than humans. However, you should throw away infested food.
- Cats are similar to dogs in this respect. In addition, wet food is rarely affected.
- Many types of bird food are particularly popular with moths because they contain grain. Discard the bird food, it can harm birds.
Food moths and clothing
Grocery moths can also nest in woolen blankets or socks, duvets, fur or leather clothing.
However, only one in five native moth species does this. The seed moth larva also likes feathers, leather and wool. These five moths are native:
- Seed moth
- Corn moth
- Mealborer
- Dried fruit moth
- Meal moth
The corn moth rarely lives in apartments. Meal moths, on the other hand, also like chocolate and dry animal food.Food moths are not dangerous, but they do cause damage. You should carefully sort out and throw away infected food and objects, including products that are in the immediate vicinity. Then clean the infected cupboards or shelves thoroughly. This should solve the problem for now.