Pantry insects are those creatures that you find in the cupboard where you store your food. Moths, beetles, weevils...everybody seems to live inside your pantry, and some of the stored foods look really awful as a result of their activity. Bugs have been living with us ever since we started to practice the art of keeping food items in a "safe place" for later consumption. It especially became a great habit when we got into agriculture and horticulture, producing far more than we can consume in the near future.

The bugs have simply adapted from their ancient habit of feeding on fallen fruit and nuts, which were lying around in forests. These days, helpful humans have stored all these wonderful food sources in nice paper bags in a pantry. How convenient! It may not come as a surprise that, on average, a fifth of all our stored food is somehow damaged by bugs.

Would it be bad for our health if we inadvertently ate an insect or two in our food? Not at all! We've all done it, without being aware of the fact. A bit of extra protein doesn't hurt anyone.