Spices don't really go bad, right? Right, but they might contain "pantry pests." According to the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, pantry pests are insects that "attack" foods that are in your cabinets like flour, cereals, herbs, spices, chocolate, and more. If you're wondering where they come from, you may want to sit down for the answer: it's likely they were inside the food when it was packaged.
It turns out these hard-to-see creatures are most commonly found in spices like paprika, cayenne pepper and chili powder. And the most common pantry pests are drugstore beetles (a small, oval-shaped insect that's about two millimeters long and brown in color), and cigarette beetles (similar in size to the drugstore beetle, light brown, has a history of eating into stored tobacco containers.)
The bad news: it's nearly impossible to avoid pantry pests, the good news: they don't really pose any danger to your health. If you do spot such a pest in your food, throw it out, and pay attention to the package the food came in. Also, you're more likely to spot them in the summer time, as they flourish in warm and humid conditions.
(Elite Daily)