Many parts of the United States are in for a blistery cold winter season this year, which brings new challenges for pest management in food processing facilities. One of the most notable challenges these facilities face is increased pressure from rodents who seek out food and shelter in extreme weather. These issues are amplified by erratic weather and extreme snow, to which many areas have become accustomed. A rodent infestation could shut down a food processing facility and lead to a loss of product and profit. Additionally, these pests can transmit diseases to employees.

Rodent infestations are extremely dangerous to the health and safety of employees who work in the facilities, as these pests can transmit Salmonella, which can also contaminate food manufactured in the facility. In fact, rodents are known to contaminate or consume about 20% of the world’s food supply.

To prevent infestations, it’s very important for facility managers and their employees to have some baseline knowledge of the different rodent species they could be facing. The most frequent invaders found in the U.S. are deer mice, house mice, Norway rats, and roof rats.

• House mice. These are the most commonly encountered rodent in the U.S. and, despite their name, they are the most common invader of commercial facilities. They usually nest in dark, secluded areas such as storage rooms and basements. These pests can cause serious property damage by chewing through drywall and wires, which can then spark electrical fires. House mice also pose a significant threat to food processing facilities, contaminating food products and spreading disease. House mice have been implicated in the spread of Salmonella through their feces.
• Deer mice. These mice typically live in rural, outdoor areas and are less common in urban areas; however, this does not reduce the risk they pose to food processing facilities located in more rural settings. They will often prepare their nests in old fence posts, tree hollows and log piles but will also seek shelter in commercial buildings, storage areas or vehicles. Deer mice present serious medical concerns as they can be carriers of hantavirus, a characteristically influenza-like illness which can be accompanied by kidney, blood, or respiratory ailments and is potentially fatal.
• Norway rats. Similar to house mice, Norway rats often nest in basements, in piles of debris, and in other undisturbed areas and materials. They especially like burrowing into soil underneath sidewalks, slabs, or low-growing shrubs. Norway rats have a propensity to gnaw through almost everything, including plastic and lead pipes, which can damage food processing machinery and spark dangerous electrical fires. Norway rats are also carriers of serious diseases including rat-bite fever, leptospirosis, trichinosis, and salmonellosis.
• Roof rats. Named for their tendency to find shelter in the upper parts of buildings, roof rats not only damage materials by gnawing through them, but they also contaminate stored food and serve as vectors of dangerous diseases. Roof rats are willing to eat practically anything available to them; however, their preference to feed on seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries which may draw them to food processing facilities. Roof rats secured their place in history by spreading the highly dangerous bubonic plague. Though transmission is rare today, there are still a handful of cases in the U.S. each year.

Signs of an Infestation

To keep their facilities safe, food processing facility managers need to regularly inspect the building and machinery for signs of an infestation. Here are the top signs of a rodent infestation facility managers should keep an eye out for:

• Droppings: Mouse or rat droppings found around the facility are some of the most common signs of rodent infestation. These pellets are often left behind in places where food is stored, as well as under sinks, inside chewed cardboard boxes, along baseboards, and on top of wall beams.
• Gnaw marks: Rodents can cause serious property damage by chewing through almost any type of material—including plastic and lead pipes—to obtain food or water. House mice and Norway rats are also known to gnaw on wires behind walls, sometimes causing fires.
• Nests: Rodents prefer to nest in dark, secluded areas where there is little chance of disturbance. House mice, specifically, like to build their nests out of shredded paper products, cotton, packing materials, wall insulation, and fabrics. If facility managers find these materials scattered around guest rooms or common areas, it might be a sign that rodents are nearby. Norway rats typically nest in underground burrows, often near building foundations, while roof rats may nest in ceilings or attics.
• Tracks or rub marks: Rats tend to leave dark grease or dirt marks along walls and floorboards as they follow a trail through the building between their nest and food sources. Facility managers should keep an eye out for these rub marks, which are caused by the rat’s oily fur.
• Strange noises: Getting complaints that employees are hearing strange noises in the walls? Chances are these sounds can be attributed to rodents scurrying about the facility, between the walls and up in attics. Rodents are especially fond of storage spaces because they prefer dark, secluded spots.
• An actual rodent: Mice can breed rapidly, so if a facility manager or a customer spot one mouse in the building, it’s likely there are others playing hide and seek. In fact, a female house mouse can give birth to a half dozen babies every three weeks, producing up to 35 young per year.

Rodent Prevention

Food processing facilities are likely required to work with a licensed pest control company for ongoing pest inspections, routine maintenance visits, and treatments as needed. Working with a qualified pest control company is essential to ensuring your food processing facility remains pest-free. Your pest control partner will work with you to implement an integrated pest management (IPM) plan. An IPM plan is a comprehensive pest control method that that focuses on three basic techniques: inspection, identification, and treatment by a pest control professional. This method will help to ensure that pests are properly controlled and deterred as well as to ensure that your facility is clean and compliant.

In addition to working regularly with your pest control partner, facility managers should implement these prevention tips to avoid unwanted rodent run-ins:

• Trim back trees and foliage close to the foundation;
• Seal any cracks or holes on the outside of the building;
• Repair any broken vent covers, loose siding, or shingles;
• Keep storage areas clean and organized to eliminate any potential nesting grounds;
• Properly ventilate storage areas and machinery to prevent moisture buildup that can attract pests;
• Keep food products sealed and stored properly in air-tight containers;
• Clean high-volume areas often, including employee break rooms, bathrooms, and lobby areas where crumbs and trash accumulate daily; and
• Dispose of garbage regularly and store in sealed receptacles placed at a distance from building entrances.

Rodents will be a continued threat to food processing facilities, but facility managers can ensure they’re prepared through proper education, prevention, and—most importantly—a partnership with a reliable pest control professional.

Dr. Fredericks is senior vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association. Reach him at jfredericks@pestworld.org.

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Motion sensor technology research can help pest management professionals more efficiently check tin cats and replace glue boards.

Technology is constantly changing the way we live our lives and conduct business. In the past, technological inventions like canned goods, pasteurization, and freeze drying allowed for widespread distribution of goods and long-lasting food preservation. These innovations in food processing supported a newly developing culture of convenience.

Because technology affects us daily, we constantly benefit from the upgrades that make our lives easier. However, as technological developments become available, we must assess how useful they are for our lives. For instance, a quality assurance manager must be aware of new technology that can make managing a facility easier, whether it includes new testing procedures for food quality that help operations run smoothly or technology improvements in pest management to better maintain food safety.

Technological advancements in the field of pest management can be a huge benefit, because insects and rodents jeopardize food quality. Pests can contaminate food and destroy products, making effective pest prevention and treatment vital to your facility. Because of new developments in technology within the pest management industry, a plethora of options to help manage pests, including forward-thinking ways to use heat and sound, are on the horizon.

Before you explore new pest management technologies, though, make sure you work closely with your pest management professional to adopt an integrated pest management (IPM) program for your facility. IPM is an ongoing preventive cycle that manages pests through a variety of methods, using proactive options, such as sanitation and facility maintenance, first. An IPM program can help minimize reactive treatments by removing items that attract pests in the first place.

By working with your pest management professional, you can handle pest problems before they endanger your product’s quality. Then, once your IPM program is in place, evaluate some of the environmentally friendly techniques and research, discussed below, that might work with your program to help prevent and reduce pest populations.

Turn Up the Heat

Heat treatment is an efficient alternative to chemical applications in sensitive areas like food processing facilities. This environmentally conscious process uses heated air to destroy stored-product pests and cockroaches.

During a treatment session, propane heaters and a portable duct system raise the temperature in a facility to between 140 and 180 degrees to kill infestations at all stages. Many treatment sessions only take a day to complete, making this a convenient alternative to fumigation or multiple chemical applications.

Heat treatment is also effective in helping to stop the growth of mold and bacteria, as well as deep-cleaning pollutants.

Sound Off

Pheromone traps use pests’ biology against them by mimicking insect pheromones and attracting pests to a sticky trap.

Farms and villages have been known to use sound to control pest birds and elephants, which stay at a distance if they hear the sound of swarming bees. Now, pest management professionals can manipulate pests like rodents through a different use of sound.

One rodent control study used sound was used to mimic the cries of baby rodents in distress. Researchers found that the noise attracts concerned mother rats looking to comfort the young, as well as male rodents seeking to eat the young, leading them all into a trap.

A Sticky Situation

Years of researching insects and studying biology and reproduction have made mating disruption technology an exciting new development in pest management. This strategy uses pests’ own biology against them to attract insects to a sticky trap. Traps hang in your food processing facility, where they release pheromones into the air to confuse male Indian meal moths, which are then unable to detect females to mate with.

The immense concentration of released pheromones overloads the males’ antennae, causing them to follow false trails instead of the actual trails made by females. Less mating occurs, slowing the production of larvae for each mating cycle. The mating pheromones are nontoxic and can reduce the use of insecticides.

Smell into the Future

The use of ionization machines is a unique—almost futuristic—way to manage pests. The equipment releases an inert product containing negative ions into the air. The negative ions bind to pollutants in the air such as pollen, dust, and odors. The ions then remove the particles from the air in your facility.

Because the ions eliminate odors, which pests use to find food, this method can help to reduce a major pest attractant. This non-chemical treatment is a great fit for food processing facilities that produce strong odors from production.

Odors from dumpster areas and even inside production facilities can invite pests, but ionization machines are geared to removing this attractant.

Not Your Average Cat

Research on motion sensor technology could allow for a faster pest management process and, therefore, increased pest prevention. Tin cats, which resemble small tin boxes and are commonly used in processing facilities, contain glue boards. Depending on the size of the facility, there might be hundreds of tin cats for pest management professionals to check regularly for pests.

Tests on the new motion sensor technology, however, show that pest management professionals can identify which traps have captured pests. This not only saves time but also alerts you to where a possible infestation may occur and how to treat it in a timely manner.

Although these innovative treatments may be suitable upgrades for your facility, don’t abandon your current pest management program just yet. Consult with your pest management professional before deciding which treatments would work best for your facility. Take it a step further and get your staff involved in the process by teaching them how your IPM program works and explaining the importance of supporting the program. Introduce your staff to these new pest management treatments so that they have an idea of what may work for the facility. Remember, stringent sanitation and regular facility maintenance habits trump any new technology, so remind staff that these proactive measures can go a long way in helping to prevent pests in your facility.

Ron Harrison, entomologist, is director of technical services for Orkin and an acknowledged leader in the field of pest management. Contact him at ronharrison@rollins.com, or visit www.orkincommercial.com for more information.

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