Stored-Product Entomology

     Stored-product entomology is commonly used in lawsuits over the contamination or infestation of foods by insects, usually in the commercial business. Although stored-product entomology is lesser known, it is extremely important because it involves all cases involving the finding of any insects in any food product. A stored-product entomologist's job is to determine if the product was truly infested before it was shipped, or purchased by the consumer, and whether or not legal action should be taken against the producer of the food. These entomologists’s are so important, that many large food companies actually hire a forensic entomologist to keep on staff to make sure no contaminated food is passed through. Companies are required by the FDA to have no more than a certain number of larva/insects/and insect fragments in their product. Because of the large number of lawsuits that involve finding insects in food, a stored product entomologist is extremely important to a company, and to the consumer. Five major household pantry insects that are commonly found in stored spaces are: red flour beetle, the drugstore beetle, the saw-toothed grain beetle, the indianmeal moth and fruit flies.