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A travel-sore Tarantula lurking in your bunch of bananas is an oft-feared phenomenon, but less well known is the fact that there are an eye-watering 150 different species of insect that are commonly found in foodstuffs after it has been harvested. The culprits range from Flour beetles to moths to mice to, most common of all, Rice Weevil. These bacteria-filled bugs are traditionally removed using a chemical fumigation process but there is now an organic, non-toxic method of pest and insect control - totally safe for humans, not at all for bugs.
The system works by sealing the foodstuffs in an air-tight room then gradually raising the temperature to stimulate the pest's life cycle. Once a set temperature is reached and the bugs have respired and are fully active, the atmosphere is modified by reducing the oxygen level. This effectively kills all infestation whilst leaving the foodstuff unaffected. The process has been pioneered by a Dutch company, EcO2 B.V. and Anchor Storage in Suffolk is one of only six facilities in Britain to have invested in the ground-breaking technology.
Stephen Britt, Managing Director of Anchor Storage, says 'We store a lot of organically-certified dried fruit, nuts, seeds, pulses and rice products. Pest-control has always been a problem in such foodstuffs but now we are able to guarantee our customers, and consumers, a wholly effective, quick, clean and organic solution to pest control. The technology is very exciting indeed, and can actually be applied to any product that can physically fit within the 250-m3 (cubic metre) chambers. We can bug-bust mattresses, duvets, basket-ware, clothing, furniture and so on. The potential is endless!'
Richard Lawrey, Technical Director of the UK's largest independent Organics importer Community Foods Ltd, is one of the first to have tested Anchor Storage's Eco2 chambers since they were installed last month. He said 'We have put searched high and low for a suitable alternative to chemical fumigation for both our organic and non-organic produce. Eco2 offers us a better mix of effective treatment, reasonable processing times and improved energy efficiency than any other treatment method available.'
