Brown Rice very infested-Rice cakes and Rice crispies don't have an issue, per Reb Moshe Vaye

 I recently found worms in a bag of brown rice.  I happen to live a few houses away from a leading kashrus expert in Lakewood, and I called the Rav to tell him about the problem. 

He “happened” to be checking brown rice at the time of the phone call (!), and, as he gives checking demonstrations, he offered to show me what is going on with brown rice these days.  

I watched with his wife as he showed brown rice that looked perfectly clean when checked over. Then he put that same rice into a wire mesh colander and gave it a tap over a white plastic plate. What looked like tiny brown dust particles came out onto the plate.

I said, “Ok, it’s tiny shards of chaff.” He said, ”Look again. They’re walking.”  I looked again and, sure enough, they were tiny little bugs, and they were walking!  The Rav said they were lice. With another shake, more came out. Another shake, even more, came out. The Rav said there were thousands of lice in that plastic container of brown rice.  As if that wasn’t bad enough…

I thought it was surely clean when I asked about a certain brand of gourmet rice. The Rav said, “It’s the worst.” He put some gourmet brown rice into the mesh colander and gave it a tap: nothing. Gave it another shake: nothing. Gave it a third tap: and a black weavel came out. Another tap, another black weavel came out.  The Rav said quinoa is a much greater problem and must be shaken out over a plastic plate with a finer mesh strainer.

Brown rice and quinoa infestation seem to be a problem that people should know about.

Thank you and kol tov,

I’m sorry, but I forgot to mention that there is also a recurring infestation problem with dried beans and chickpeas.

(After beans have been soaked in water over night, I put a few (say, 8 to 10) on the palm of my hand and check them, one-by-one - and then flip them to the other palm to check the other side of them, one-by-one.)  I regularly find infested beans - yet so many yirei Shamayim still do not know that beans must be checked!