Stored Product Insects (SPIs)
Have you brought something home from the shop riddled with insects? Opened an old bag of flour to find it’s tainted? Are you a manufacturer of food products and you want to keep them safe from infestation?
Stored product insects (SPIs) are one of the top pest concerns in food production and storage across the globe.
Stored product insects are exactly what they sound like: insects that live and breed in stored products, like whole grains or processed foods, and even tobacco.
There are many types of SPI in the UK, with the two most common being beetles and moths.
The dangers: why we control SPIs
The main reason we control SPIs is the incredible damage and contamination they cause to foodstuffs, raw materials and finished products.
SPIs not only eat these products, they breed in them and can spread quickly, contaminating a huge amount of product which is then unfit for human consumption.
Contamination of foodstuffs is such a huge concern that there is an entire branch of forensic entomology dedicated to studying it.
Unlike with most other pests, there is no significant health risk to humans from SPIs.
The biggest concern is contamination of food by the insect, its cast skins or pupal casing. That’s an extra crunch in your cereal you don’t want!
Psychological distress is also a factor that needs to be considered, as some people will find it hugely upsetting to find insects in their foodstuffs.
Risk to businesses
The financial loss associated with SPIs is enormous. It’s believed they are the world’s ‘most expensive pest’, costing billions each year in additional operating costs and loss of product.
Businesses that handle any kind of cereal, grain or dried food products are at risk of infestation from stored product insects.
That includes supermarkets, restaurants, food processing facilities and food storage warehouses.
They can cause the recall of products and the expense involved in issuing a recall, plus discarding infested or damaged products, is very high.
Environmental Health Officers can also issue enforcement notices to business owners who don’t have adequate pest management procedures in place.
If not complied with, these can lead to fines or even a stint in jail and a criminal record.
And let’s not forget: poor reviews of businesses or products are easily viewed and shared online, making reputation management a key consideration.
Types of SPI in the UK
The range of stored product insects worldwide is pretty vast. In the UK, we have two common types of SPI:
Beetle
Moth
Some SPIs, like the Khapra beetle, are considered invasive species worldwide.
Although it is not currently found in the UK, products that have a chance of containing Khapra beetles are subject to quarantine in places like the US.
Confusingly, weevils are actually a type of beetle and some stored product beetles can often be misidentified as weevils.
Just a few stored product insects that are common in the UK include:
Rice weevil
Biscuit beetle
Indian meal moth
Grain weevil
Confused flour beetle
Saw toothed grain beetle
Larder beetle
Mill moth.