More infestations. Need advice after gnat killing fogger. WWYD?

[Fairy]

I dunno what it is with our family and the bugs this season, but it's been insane. I'm tired of hearing the sound of my own voice on it, serioiusly. Another bug problem, Hil?! For real?! Yeah. For real. Please kill me.

So, we had a gnat problem. Not 10 or 100, but swarms. I dunno where they originated or what food got left uncovered, but I can promsie you there's nothing dead in my garage, there's no obvious food. But there WAS something at some point, and the gnats got to it,multiplied, and got dealt with. And that's my problem. DH set loose a 'fogger' in the garage and covered with a sheet -- that I often use! -- just the appliances I sometimes use that we store in the garage (ice cream maker, coffee maker, etc.). But he didn't cover THE FOOD!

Here is a picture of the food.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u178/FairyMay9/Garagefood.jpg

I am specifically worried that the residue of the fogger got on the packaging of the food to the point where I might not want the food to touch it. Like The Carr's water crackers, which DS eats alot of. You see the box is open, but the sheaths are closed in there. Do I need to worry when I open the sheath that the residue will touch the cracker? What about the pop? Neither DS nor I drink it, but our guests might, and DH does. The pop will touch the lid of the pop. I may be being paranoid, but really, I could use some WWYD comments, here.

BTW, that's to say nothing of DS's stuff hanging out in the garage that did not get taken outside during the fogging, like random books and toys. And no, I didn't know DH was gonna do this till the last minute, and no, I had no idea that this was how things got "covered" until it was too late.

[egoldber]

Sorry, I would ditch it all. $20 worth of food is so not worth the potential for the pesticide exposure.

[dcmom2b3]

Oh, no!

Honestly, honey, I'd chuck it all, b/c it would make me jump out of my skin anxious to think of anyone eating it, though it's probably just fine.

But that's just me -- weird (um, neurotic) sensibilities.

[lchang25000]

Sorry, I would ditch it all. $20 worth of food is so not worth the potential for the pesticide exposure.

:yeahthat:

[brittone2]

Yep, I'd totally ditch it. Not worth it.

[Fairy]

See, that's how I feel, too. DH is not going to be happy with this. We are going to wholly disagree. He thinks I am too crunchy in these things. He agrees with the organic milk, and he is generally tolerates the organic produce without a problem, and he even supports my issues with transfats and HFCS, but throwing out all this stuff, he's going to have issues with and think I'm going too far. The gnats were a serious issue, he was right about that, and I don't have a good answer for him as to what we could have done instead. But that's neither here nor there, the chucking this stuff will be ... contentious. But I do agree with you guys and appreciate the validation.

Does anyone reading this NOT think it's a big deal and would keep it?

Does anyone think that it's ok for the stuff that's inside a airtight sheath, inside another box inside the big box that was exposed? Like the Nutrigrain bars?

And what about my appliances? Yeah, they were covered with a sheet, but you can see the purple sheet hanging down, and that's how they were "covered" and that sheet has holes in it. And it's porous and even if it were wrapped tight, I think the fog would have permeated it. And THAT'S what the directions said to do, just "cover with a sheet." I plan on chucking the sheet, BTW.

And what about DS's toys and books that were still in the garage? Like his trike and jsut a boatload of other crap that we USE. Wash? Hose down? HELP!

[infomama]

I'd pitch the food in a heartbeat....sorry about your buggy problem.

[doberbrat]

I was a tween when we last used a fogger type thing in the house but I remember having to take ALL food products out and wash anything like dishes/toys etc. major major pia.

I'd toss ALL the food and start washing all the toys etc. wipe down all the appliances etc.

sorry

[egoldber]

I've got to be honest, I don't know that I could eat ice cream or drink coffee from those appliances.

The whole point of a fogger is that it gets EVERYWHERE. I keep imagine pesticide inside the coffee make and inside the ice cream maker.

[elliput]

I'm probably going to be asking an obvious question here-

Are there any instructions on the fogger box with regards to food?

And yeah, I would think the mist from a fogger could permeate a sheet (usually a sheet in a situation like this means plastic sheeting).

[Fairy]

The instructions simply say to cover or remove food products.

I plan to run what I can thru the diswasher.

I told DH how I felt and as expected, there will be no agreement here. I need to find him documentation about this stuff that will prove the risk. Googling now. Ugh.

[ThreeofUs]

Ditch it. If it's on your food boxes, it's going to go down your throats. That's one of the major vectors for insecticide poisoning in kids.

Seriously, as a former research chemist I am telling you, if it kills the bugs it ain't good for you either. It's not just that it was a chemical fogger. Boric acid is natural, but I wouldn't eat it, either.

As for other options, try Gardensalive.com. I don't know if they have solutions for your particular problems, but I use their products all the time to capture/kill moths.

[BabyMine]

I would call the manufactuer and ask. Then I would toss it all.

If the manufactuer tells you to toss it all then you have ammunition. If they tell you to keep it then don't tell your husband you called and toss it.

[momto2boys]

Jumping on the bandwagon with the everyone who says "toss it".

DH and I vacationed in Nevis when I was newly pregnant with DS 1 several moons ago. We were taking a sight-seeing trip when I started feeling naseaous. We stopped at a local store to pick up a box of saltine crackers (Nabisco brand). Food and other products were not separated so the crackers were next to the mothballs. I never imagined that the "mothball" smell would permeate the plastic sleeve on the crackers but it did. I couldn't spit the cracker out fast enough - it was disgusting!