Hey, what’s in my GRITS . . .
By: Paul J. Bello
ACE, BCE, MBA
Date: May 1, 2023
Depending upon where you’re from or live in the United States you may, or may not, know what grits are. Having attended the University of Georgia and subsequently moving to Georgia our family became well acquainted with a food known as GRITS. My first impression of grits pretty much placed them just one notch up from sawdust as a food item however, over the years I must confess that we’ve grown fond of grits. And, one morning this led to the very question; “what’s in my grits?”
For the benefit of those that may not know, grits is basically ground up bits of bleached corn that is cooked in water until it becomes of a consistency similar to oatmeal. My true Southern friends advise that really good grits should be more like spackle and good grits, if slung against the wall will “stick”. I’ve seen folks eat grits in a variety of ways, with cheese, hot sauce, ketchup, sugar, salt & pepper, butter, sawmill gravy and other combinations of assorted “enhancers”. Rarely, if ever, are grits eaten plain. It may happen, but I’ve never seen it done. But, what’s in my grits?
Grits are white to off white in color and are granular looking with each particle being a tad larger than coarse sand might appear. Generally, they are uniform in appearance and even more so when cooked. There are regular grits and instant grits. True Southerners tend to frown on instant grits but we like ‘em just fine for the convenience they offer. When you have a bowl of steaming hot grits you are basically looking at a bowl of stuff that’s uniformly white. As such, it’s easier to see anything that “doesn’t belong” in your grits say, compared to a bowl of oatmeal or cold cereal, prompting the question; what’s in my grits?
One recent morning our normal breakfast routine was interrupted by “what’s in my grits”. You must understand that our two boys are seasoned pest pro’s despite being only 10 and 13 years old. They’re used to having various types of containers holding various types of bugs around the house, even in the kitchen. Occasionally, they will look at critters in the microscope and show their friends. They think it’s cool that we have live and dead bugs. (They’re mom thinks otherwise!) However, despite their bug experience the sighting of something foreign in their food can be too much for even them and the sight of something dark in a sea of whitish grits for breakfast can turn our breakfast routine upside down.
The answer to the question “what’s in my grits” and how you answer the question can be equally important to the person who asked. On this occasion it wasn’t what we bug guys might refer to as “crawling protein” so, no big deal. However, if it was a rice weevil, saw toothed grain beetle or other pantry pest that might have been enough to put my son off grits permanently. And, how pest professionals deal with such pest problems can be very important to our customers.
When the pest professional is called about bugs in a customer’s food, pantry pests, it may seem routine to the professional but it can be “a crisis” to some customers not used to seeing such things. How the pest pro handles the situation can affect how the customer reacts to the situation. Basically, once the infested food product has been found and removed, you’ve solved the problem for the most part. However, there may be more to it. Pantry pests are capable of moving from one food product into another and, often do. Some of these pests can move from the food product containers to hide in cracks & crevices within the pantry or cabinets necessitating the thorough cleaning of the food storage areas.
As always, careful inspection is also important. In these situations we want to find which food item or items are infested and discard them. We also wish to assure which, if any, of the other food items present may have become “cross contaminated”. And, we also need to inspect the food storage areas to assure that there are no pests harboring that may cause a subsequent problem for the customer. We also need to make an effort to assure which food items are not infested.
How we conduct our inspection and how we communicate our findings & recommendations to the customer is equally important. The pest pro should be considerate of the customer’s perspective and re-assuring of the customer’s concerns. While some people may be able to handle the fact that bugs were found in their food quite well, others may not. In the past I have witnessed homeowners so disgusted by insects found within food packaging that they proceeded to throw away every food item, even the canned goods, in the pantry. While we might agree that this is an “over-reaction”, we need to understand that such reactions are possible.
When discussing a pantry pest problem with a customer it’s wise to clearly communicate the facts about such pests. Superior pest professionals provide their customers printed information and recommendations about such pests and how to prevent them from being a problem. Yes, the truth is the truth but some folks are likely better off not knowing that they may have eaten several insects, insect eggs or body parts prior to your visit so be mindful that some customers may be squeamish.
Providing customers with clearly and well written pest fact sheets and recommendations will be of added value to your customer and help to set you and your company apart from your competitors. Such written information might include the basic biology of the pest species, their habits, common food stuffs infested, how to conduct a self inspections, the value of proper storage, product rotation and other information that will help the customer to better understand pantry pests and prevent infestations.
So, what’s in my grits? The ingredients section of our grits label includes; white hominy grits made from corn, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B. The little dark particles we found floating around in them, while I’d have liked to have quickly said something clever like “chunks of grain beetles”, turned out to be dark unknown particulate matter and not insect body parts after microscopic observation.
The author is president of PJB Pest Management Consulting, and may be reached paul@pjbpestconsultant.com or 770-500-0460.