Bugs in Raw Shea Butter?

[RossBoss]

Somebody hooked me up with a guy who imports raw unrefined shea butter straight out of West Africa. I got roughly 32 lbs. for 80 bucks, which is an amazing deal. It came in one huge square block wrapped in plastic in a cardboard box. I took out a lot this evening to whip it, so I melted it down to liquid and added my oils and stuff and I noticed that as I was whipping it I saw something black, so I scooped it out with a spoon and saw that it was a black ant, about 3/4 of an inch long. I wasn't really grossed out, because I figured it came from a tree and there are ants in trees, and if I could ride public transportation (planes and trains) where you are literally steeped in other people's sneezes, coughs and whatever else, then surely ants and other insects in the shea butter shouldn't be so bad right?

 

[theLovelyStyle]

Youll be fine

 

[RossBoss]

Youll be fine

Yes, I think I will. Now if when I get to the bottom of this block of shea butter and see a dead scorpion or rat then I will be calling Mr. West African Importer to have a talk with him.lol.

 

[Vashti]

Let's hope there aren't any scorpions in the mix.

 

[Tiye]

You can always strain it. I never had bugs in mine but I did have twigs and other debris and so I filtered them away with cheese cloth. btw If you'll be keeping the block for a while be sure to refrigerate it - it does go rancid at room temp.

 

[Carisa]

lol Not a dead scorpion or rat lol

 

[RossBoss]

You can always strain it. I never had bugs in mine but I did have twigs and other debris and so I filtered them away with cheese cloth. btw If you'll be keeping the block for a while be sure to refrigerate it - it does go rancid at room temp.

Yes, I did see some debris in it as well, like twigs or other things from the Earth. Thanks for the tip, I will refrigerate it.

 

[nikki2229]

Ants love shea butter for some reason. I left my lid slightly open in my basket that sits in the window sill and lo and behold when I returned home from work, tiny black ants were all inside of the shea butter. I had to throw it out. I don't bring my new shea in the bathroom at all. They are so attracted to it that they managed to find a way to get to it through the screen and all. LOL

 

[Leesh]

RossBoss, Actually, I would think that was sort of a good thing! Shows how "Pure & Natural" it really is! I would scoop Ol' Picnic Pooper on out and go on bout my business!

 

[Transformer]

I would try to separate that mass into smaller blocks and refrigerate.

 

[RossBoss]

Ants love shea butter for some reason. I left my lid slightly open in my basket that sits in the window sill and lo and behold when I returned home from work, tiny black ants were all inside of the shea butter. I had to throw it out. I don't bring my new shea in the bathroom at all. They are so attracted to it that they managed to find a way to get to it through the screen and all. LOL

ants are relatively clean bugs, which is why it didn't gross me out like a cockroach would.

 

[RossBoss]

RossBoss, Actually, I would think that was sort of a good thing! Shows how "Pure & Natural" it really is! I would scoop Ol' Picnic Pooper on out and go on bout my business!

Yes, I was thinking along those lines of it being "straight out of the wild, bugs and all".

 

[RossBoss]

I would try to separate that mass into smaller blocks and refrigerate.

that is what i plan to do. I will be hitting up The Container Store today to get some containers.