Yeah, I completely believe that rats and mice, and even cockroaches could do this sort of damage, but I cannot recall ever having seen it. I guess this is because with my own things I'm super careful to store in a way that prevents such damage, and when I'm looking at other things, for instance to buy, I tend to ignore items that have been damaged.
I always have things left in my house in Solo, and every time I come home to Australia I pack everything that I've left into plastic, then cardboard boxes, then plastic again and seal with packing tape. This would not stop a determined rodent, but my housekeeper is under strict instructions to keep my things safe, and she will stop the rodents.
On the subject of spicy and hot food, I get this sort of stuff to eat pretty regular --- not all the time, but maybe half the time. I reckon my wife can't eat anything, including chocolate cake and ice cream unless she has chillies with it. We go out to eat at a restaurant she takes a little plastic bag of birdseye chillies with her. In my garden there are currently 50 odd chilli bushes. Sambal with everything, including all western food, not just the Indonesian stuff.
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