While an effective pest control plan is crucial in all industries, it is especially important for companies that handle food. For food and beverage processors, ensuring that pest control methods are as up to date and comprehensive as possible is paramount for the safety of staff and customers.

Several new and evolving pest control technologies can help improve the effectiveness of existing pest control plans and strategies by providing real-time data on hot spots and trends, reducing invasive treatments, and improving targeted pest management for treatment and removal. These technologies can help support an existing integrated pest management (IPM) plan to support your facility.

New and Evolving Pest Control Technologies

Part of forming a comprehensive pest control strategy is to regularly implement new and evolving technologies at your facility that continuously improve your existing pest control plan. In recent years, several technologies have emerged that can help improve the effectiveness of pest control, as well as the safety of food processing facilities and the goods they produce.

• Remote rodent monitoring: This involves the use of wireless sensor networks to collect data on pest activity. These sensors can be strategically placed in key areas to monitor temperature, humidity and other environmental factors that influence pest behavior. By collecting this data, pest control providers can focus on prevention by better predicting and analyzing pest behavior to find the root cause of the pest issue.
• LED insect light traps (ILTs): These traps are designed to emit light in specific spectra that are attractive to target pests while minimizing attraction to non-target species. This makes them more efficient and environmentally responsible compared with traditional insect light traps. LED ILTs consume less energy than conventional fluorescent lamps, reducing operational costs. They also have a longer lifespan, reducing the frequency of bulb replacements.
• Advanced application equipment: Improvements in the equipment used to apply chemical treatments include changing power sources from gasoline engines and direct electric power to battery-driven devices. This reduces environmental impact and allows for better control over the output of products, making a more effective application service.
• Insect monitoring and counting technologies: Many manufacturers are in the development stages of producing ILT devices that can count the number of insects captured and use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify types of insects captured. This technology will provide more accurate analysis of pest activity trending around your facility.
• Redesigning rodent management: Legislative changes in some parts of the United States are driving a change to managing rodent populations. Moving away from dependence on traditional rodenticides and using carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide instead to help reduce populations in burrow systems is becoming more common.

These new pest control technologies can help protect your food processing facility by maximizing preventive tactics to help minimize pest issues.

Integrated Pest Management

Now that you understand some of the newest technological advancements in pest control, it’s important to establish how these can fit into the overall pest control strategy. Integrated pest management (IPM) programs employ a comprehensive and sustainable approach that combines proactive pest prevention, regular monitoring, and targeted interventions to minimize the use of chemical treatments and help effectively manage pest populations in your facility. In an all-inclusive, ongoing, proactive cycle focused on prevention for your facility, providers will implement the most effective customized pest control measures to benefit the needs of the facility. Providers then continue to monitor the program’s effectiveness and perform check-ins as needed to ensure the facility is cared for.

With a focus on innovation and prevention, IPM is one of the most promising ways to bring in new technologies regularly and intentionally. A successful IPM program:

• Is environmentally responsible and intentional in its measures;
• Involves the entire staff in the operation through group training and instruction;
• Keeps detailed records of all pest activity and pest control operations;
• Educates and partners with facility managers to understand the business operations comprehensively;
• Addresses pest hot spots inside and outside the facility; and
• Inspects the property and focuses on exclusion techniques that help keep pests out of the building.

For optimal partnership with your pest control provider, always provide documentation of pest sightings and spotting trends in your facility. Implementing a process for staff to report any signs of pest activity can help keep employees aware. Always maintain open lines of communication with your pest control provider and communicate the importance of preventive measures internally.

Navigating pest control in your food processing facility requires looking toward the future and investing in new and innovative pest control technology to help develop the best possible protection and treatment plan for your facility. By fostering an environment of collaboration and forward thinking, you can help safeguard your facility, which in turn protects your customers and employees, preserves your business’s reputation, and helps you deliver the best possible product.

Meek is a technical services manager for Rollins, a pest-control company. He is a board-certified entomologist and a 35-year industry veteran in the field of pest management. Reach him at FMeek@rollins.com.

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In October 2023, Orkin released its annual “Top 50 Rattiest Cities List” and, while many might assume that New York City would be No. 1 on this list, it was in fact the Windy City that stole the least-coveted spot for the eighth consecutive year.

With the drastic increase in rodent sightings during the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers and businesses alike have been concerned about their health and safety. For food manufacturers and distributors, the increase in rodent activity isn’t something that should be ignored.

While gradually resuming pre-pandemic activities has helped to reduce the number of public rodent sightings, the pests’ threat to public health hasn’t decreased. In fact, these filthy pests can spread dozens of harmful diseases—directly and indirectly—such as hepatitis E, leptospirosis, and hantavirus, in addition to contaminating food products and causing structural damage in buildings.

Left unaddressed, rodent sightings within a commercial facility can lead to ongoing infestations and, eventually, failed inspections and stalled operations—costly blows to your bottom line. Knowing how to spot rodent activity is essential in stopping them early. If you notice any of the following signs around your food facility, you might have a rodent problem:

• Capsule-like droppings;
• Grease marks along skirting boards, walls, and tight spaces;
• Gnaw marks on walls, wires, and other materials; and
• Nests in dark areas such as crawl spaces, roofing, and garbage dumps.

So, how does a food manufacturing and handling facility protect itself against rats? By implementing an integrated pest management (IPM) program.

Preventive Measures

Most food-handling businesses likely have heard about IPM programs, especially if they are regularly audited by third-party food quality and safety auditors or subject to frequent regulatory inspectors. These programs are implemented by qualified pest control technicians in collaboration with a business’s food safety and quality assurance team to help deter pest activity and prevent infestations. IPM programs focus on preventive techniques such as exclusion, sanitation, and maintenance to keep pests where they belong—outside of your food facility. When it comes to rodent control, exclusion is particularly important for facility managers.

Because food processing facilities receive and send shipments daily, it’s easy for rats and other rodents to slip into transportation vehicles, packaged goods and, eventually, your building. Not only does this jeopardize your business’s products and your reputation, but employee health is also at risk. Exclusion helps keep rodents outdoors by making sure potential entry points are quickly sealed and any maintenance work is completed in a timely manner. While each business’s exclusion plan will vary based on local pest pressures, climate, and location, the majority of pest control technicians will begin with a comprehensive facility inspection prior to implementing specific tactics. These tactics can include sealing cracks and crevices that rats can slip through, installing weatherstripping, and performing door sweeps.

Another preventive measure you can add to a plan is remote pest monitoring. When you’re running a round-the-clock operation like most food-handling facilities do, your employees might not have time to monitor for pests while also performing their production responsibilities. Remote pest monitoring can help flag pest issues for you to address with your pest control provider before a bigger problem arises. There are a variety of devices that can be used during remote monitoring, depending on your facility’s specific needs and structure, but the results are primarily the same: You’ll be able to track pest activity from any location and involve your pest control provider when needed to identify pest activity trends.

Remote pest monitoring is especially beneficial in automated food manufacturing and processing facilities that see little human activity, reducing the amount of time employees spend spotting pest issues in real time.

While monitoring pest activity remotely is beneficial in places in which staff aren’t always present, it’s helpful to have other observation methods in place. Staff training in pest control might not be high on your list of priorities, but take it from the experts in commercial pest control: It can save you a lot of money and time. Your employees, primarily those on the production floor, see and hear more than you might know, which makes them invaluable in helping to identify pest issues. Once your staff knows the types of pests that frequent your facility, can identify the persistent hot spots, and understands the process for reporting activity, they’ll be able to help you kick these pests to the curb. Don’t forget to do your part as a leader by making sure pest activity logs are accessible to your employees and including your sanitation team in trainings, as they’re most likely to spot pest issues during cleanings.

Now that you know how to spot signs of rodent activity and can implement processes and procedures to reduce their impact on your business, don’t forget to review your IPM plan frequency with your pest control provider. Rodent activity can fluctuate with the seasons, so it is important to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your plan to make sure food safety remains a top priority.

If you don’t currently have an IPM program in place or employ a reliable pest control provider, now’s the time for action. Whether your food facility is located in one of the top 50 rattiest cities or not, prioritizing preventive pest control measures will help you avoid extensive problems down the line, and your customers and employees will appreciate that you are prioritizing their health and safety.

Ramsey is a senior technical services manager for Orkin. Reach him at gramsey1@rollins.com.

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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.

The post 6 Signs of Rodent Infestations at Food Processing Facilities appeared first on Food Quality & Safety.

Warm temperatures spur an uptick in pest activity, making the spring and summer months peak seasons for pest threats. The abundance of food, water, humidity, and places to hide in food processing facilities make them the ideal sanctuary for pest populations, which means it’s imperative that proper pest control be a top priority for food processing facility managers.

Threats to Pest Control

Understanding the pests that frequently invade food processing facilities and the threats they pose can help facility managers identify and address any issues that may arise before an infestation has a chance to take hold. Food processing facilities present the perfect conditions for various pests, including rodents, flies, cockroaches, and stored product pests, such as Indian meal moths and merchant grain beetles to thrive thanks to an abundance of food, shelter, and moisture. In the spring and summer, food processing facility structures are also susceptible to termites.

These pests can cause serious issues for food processors because they contaminate food with their droppings and are known to spread many diseases to humans, including E. coli and Salmonella. Rodents are also known for chewing through wiring, which can result in electrical fires and damage to essential machinery. While pantry pests do not transmit disease, they can still infest ingredients, resulting in the contamination of food products made in these facilities. The main threat posed by termites is their ability to cause extensive property damage. They cause $5 billion in property damage in the United States each year, which can be extremely costly to your business.

Pest Prevention

The most important step managers can take to ensure their facility is protected from pest threats is partnering with a licensed pest control company to perform regular inspections and implement an integrated pest management (IPM) plan. IPM is a holistic and customized approach to pest control that comprises three steps: inspection, identification, and treatment to help ensure that commercial facilities are clean, compliant, and pest free. By enlisting the help of a professional, you can rest assured, knowing your facility is well protected from pests year-round, allowing you to instead focus your time on delivering quality products safely and efficiently.

In addition to recommending that mangers partner with a professional, the National Pest Management Association recommends that they add the following steps to their maintenance checklists to protect their facilities from pests:

• Ensure employee kitchens and eating areas are clean by wiping down countertops and sweeping floors to remove crumbs and residue from spills;
• Vacuum and clean all areas regularly, including offices, hallways, lobbies, and public bathrooms;
• Routinely check under sinks and machinery for areas of moisture, and repair any leaky pipes or clogged drains;
• Store all food products in sealed containers, and organize empty boxes to prevent harborage areas;
• Keep trash in sealed containers inside the building and remove from the facility regularly. Ensure dumpsters are far away from any building entry points;
• Inspect the exterior of the building to ensure there are no entry points; pay close attention to areas where pipes and utilities enter the building, and seal any gaps or cracks in the foundation;
• Install door sweeps on exterior doors to seal the gap between the floor and the door where pests can enter;
• Remove debris from gutters and direct water away from the building through properly functioning downspouts, gutters, and splash blocks; and
• Ensure that grounds surrounding the facility are properly maintained, because overgrown vegetation can attract pests to the property.

The spring and summer seasons are exciting times of year that can quickly be ruined by a pest infestation. Help keep your employees and products safe this season and year-round by following these tips and working with a trained pest professional.

Mannes is senior vice president of public affairs for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).

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Food processing facilities provide various environments in which pests can enter, hide, and thrive. Pest survival and their ability to populate an environment is largely based on the availability of three things: food, water, and shelter. They’re resilient in their search, which is why a well-maintained line of defense is crucial to keep pests from threatening the quality and safety of the food products you provide.

No two food manufacturing facilities are alike. Size, layout, and surrounding environmental factors will all affect your specific pest management needs. However, every facility will face pest pressures in some way or another. A pest management professional can help you implement an integrated pest management (IPM) plan to expose the opportunities for pest intruders and put a stop to them.

An IPM program will assess the risk areas within your facility and establish tactics to proactively control the environment and limit pest attractants. Top pest attractants include spills, moisture, and raw ingredients. Pests are particularly fond of dried food products—from cereal to preserved meats—and they’re capable of causing them major damage.

As part of an overall plan, pest management tactics may include a combination of exclusion, facility maintenance, and sanitation practices. From there, ongoing monitoring and inspections will help evaluate the strength of your IPM program and allow you to make changes swiftly if needed.

While a pest management professional is likely helping you with many aspects of your program, there are certain tasks at your site that you and your employees can do to stave off pests.

Pest Control in Outdoor Areas

First, let’s focus on your outdoor maintenance and sanitation efforts. What happens right outside your facility on the surrounding property is critical to creating an effective IPM plan. Keeping outdoor areas maintained makes them less attractive to pests, making it less likely that they’ll show up on your doorstep.

• The roof is a common entry point for birds, roof rats, and even insects. Have a professional inspect the roof to ensure no repairs are needed. As an added layer of precaution, it’s best to trim back tree branches from touching or hanging over the roof. Don’t forget to have roof HVAC units checked to ensure filters are properly installed and that they aren’t pulling in insects.
• Close dock doors between shipments and install vinyl strip doors as added barriers when doors must be open.
• If possible, move outside lighting away from the building. Having a light directly over a personnel door can attract night-flying insects and provide them access every time the doors are opened. Moving lights off the building (while still providing a safe amount of indirect light) will minimize the amount of insects that are directly around the building.
• Dumpsters, trash cans, and other waste disposal areas quickly can become havens for pests if not maintained properly. These areas should be part of a stringent sanitation routine ensuring that dumpsters are emptied regularly (never overflowing or left open). They should also be placed as far away from buildings as possible to help prevent ants, flies, and cockroaches from accumulating and looking for an even better meal inside the facility. Don’t forget to manage any trash bins outside of employee areas as well.
• Keep in mind that fruit-bearing trees, sweet-smelling flowers, nuts, and seeds are all enticing for pests such as birds and rodents. These trees and plants provide food and potential nesting sites. Create a perimeter of reinforcement: Trim back branches and plants at least 3 feet from around your facility. You’ll also want to clean up and remove fallen branches or dead trees, as these are a prime target for termites.
• Eliminating trash and standing water that can accumulate in parking lots or low spots is critical.
• Install air curtains at entrances and establish positive air pressure to push pests toward an exit instead of pulling them in.

Pest Control in Indoor Areas

There are also some facility maintenance tactics you can use inside your structure.

• Equip floor drains with a removable secondary strainer to help prevent pest entry through drainpipes.
• Moisture within your facility can become an issue and lead to small fly infestation, mold and mold-feeding insects, and even structural damage. Look for warning signs such as slow-moving drains, mildew, and peeling paint, and quickly remedy the moisture source.

Sanitation

After a thorough inspection of both your outside and inside areas, a focus on facility maintenance is key in establishing an IPM program. Next, and just as important, is sanitation, a crucial factor that will set you up for long-term success.

Unfortunately, it’s inevitable that a pest introduction will occur at your facility at some point. Proper sanitation will make it harder for pests to make your facility their home. Indeed, proper sanitation is vital to maintaining the safety and integrity of your food products. Without a thorough, well-documented sanitation plan in place, your facility will be at increased risk for pests, spoiled products, and even foodborne illnesses.

• Storage areas, or any areas that aren’t regularly inspected, can become places for pests to hide and thrive. Remember FIFO (first in, first out): The longer a food product, whether a raw ingredient or a finished product, sits on the shelf, the greater the potential for pest issues.
• Clean drains with a foaming cleaner to break down organic matter that might be collecting. In dry environments, if food debris accumulates, insects can take harborage in drains. In wet environments, microbial concerns abound.
• Keep products off the floor and on pallets and ensure there is at least a 12-inch inspection zone between shelves or equipment and the perimeter walls.
• Containers with ingredients, or even dry goods, should remain closed with airtight lids whenever possible.
• Dispose of cardboard boxes immediately as they are emptied. Many stored product insects find harborage and food in the corrugation of boxes and other cardboard items.
• Overall, you want a clean, well-lit facility, free of unnecessary stock piles. Clutter serves as the cover pests need to hide out while they search for food sources.
• Equipment is extremely vulnerable to pests because of potential food and moisture buildup. All areas beneath and behind equipment need to be accessible in order to be properly cleaned regularly. As often as possible, deep cleaning inside of processing equipment should also be performed.
• Break rooms and locker rooms are another important area to pay close attention to. Encourage employees to exercise good sanitation practices such as immediately cleaning up spills, storing food in airtight containers in the refrigerator, and emptying trash cans at least daily.
• Wash, sweep, and/or vacuum processing areas regularly and immediately address spills. While it’s impossible to clean up every particle of food, try to limit the amount and access pests have to a food source. The less there is, the harder pests have to work for it. This will keep them stressed out and populations more manageable.

The earlier you spot a pest problem, the quicker it can be resolved, which will protect you, your facility, staff, food products, and your audit scores from being negatively affected. Protect your products and profit with an IPM plan, a program that requires a strong partnership between you, your employees, and your pest management professional to implement and continue to improve over time. Remember, if you make it harder for pests to find one of their three needs—food, water, or shelter—they can’t thrive. It’s as simple as that.

Hartzer is a technical services manager for Orkin and a board-certified entomologist. Reach her at mhartzer@rollins.com.

The post Steps You and Your Employees Can Take to Stave Off Pests appeared first on Food Quality & Safety.

(Editor’s Note: This is an online-only article attributed to the December/January 2018 issue.)

There are only three things a pest is looking for at any given time: food, water, and shelter. While this may seem basic, most businesses provide these year-round, meaning there’s an ever-present battle behind the scenes for the health and safety of food sources.

Flies and cockroaches are two of the most common pests to see, and both are known disease spreaders. While most people find these common pests to be gross, most do not recognize pests pose dangers to our health. Able to spread pathogens by simply touching a food source, flies and cockroaches are known carriers of typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. An outbreak of any one of these could be devastating not just to consumers’ health, but to a business’s reputation and bottom line.

As with many aspects of the food business, sanitation is going to be key to success. In pest control, while it’s important to have a strong pest management process in place, there’s also a lot frontline employees can do to keep the situation under control. Staff can be the eyes and ears of your business when it comes to spotting pest invaders first. Establish strong sanitation processes and procedures immediately to avoid major problems in the future. It’s always better (and often cheaper) to keep pest issues from getting to the point of infestation where more intensive treatments are necessary.

As part of proactive pest management, establishing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program is the first step to ensuring your business is as protected from pests as possible. An IPM program seeks to prevent pest activity before it occurs and reduce dependency on chemical treatments. The process is not a one-time event, but an ongoing cycle of three critical activities: 1) assessing the situation in your facility, 2) implementing specific, science-driven solutions based on findings, and 3) monitoring pest activity to make sure the techniques are working.

After a thorough inspection, a pest management professional will locate the hot spots and high-risk areas in and around the business, then work with you to create a custom IPM program that works for the particular pest challenges that you’re facing. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for pest management. In addition to IPM, there are numerous activities you and your staff can start doing today to improve sanitation practices and make the facility less attractive to pests.

Get Employees On Board

Discovering pest issues is going to be incredibly difficult if your staff isn’t involved. They’re on the ground level and closest to areas where pests are most commonly found, like the kitchen, patio, or bar for example.

That’s why the first step to implementing a stringent sanitation plan is staff training. If employees know what to look for and how they can contribute, they’re more likely to be vigilant in calling out potential problems. Bring them in at the beginning of the process and let them know the details of the custom IPM program, especially the hot spots around the business. Consider assigning different areas for employees to monitor corresponding with their job type. In a restaurant, for instance, cooks could be in charge of keeping an eye on kitchen drains and sink areas while waiters are in charge of monitoring the main dining room and outdoor patio areas.

Here are a few telltale signs for some of the most common pests.

• Flies. If you see larvae (maggots), especially around drains and garbage bins, it’s time to act fast. Flies reproduce quickly, so a small problem can escalate rapidly.
• Cockroaches. Unpleasant odors along with coffee ground-sized droppings are evidence of these resilient pests. They could be found behind or under kitchen equipment.
• Rodents. These pests leave droppings constantly, so watch out for tiny pellets. Dark rub marks around baseboards, especially around corners, are a good indicator of a potential problem as well. They love finding stored food product to bite into.
• Termites. Cracked or bubbling paint, mud tubes on exterior walls, and discarded wings from swarmers are possible evidence of a much larger issue. They are attracted to moist areas and wood structures, often behind walls and out of sight.

Make sure employees know what to do when they spot a pest as well. Establish a pest-sighting protocol to encourage employees to document a sighting immediately. This should include the type of pest, the number present at the time, and where exactly the pest was spotted. Monitoring tools should be put in place by a pest management professional, but employees can help identify pest issues earlier than anyone else.

Consider implementing regular cleaning sessions on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. A deep, leave-no-stone-unturned type of cleaning should be done at least a few times a year. Many people do not consider the grime and food particles building up behind and beneath heavy equipment, but pests absolutely adore these areas and will make them their home in no time if left alone. And don’t forget to clean the breakroom.

If you’re having a tough time getting employees to buy into your program, consider asking the pest management professional to stop by. Most will offer free training sessions, which will allow employees the chance to ask any questions they may have and further engage with the IPM program.

Preventing Pests Indoors

Although pests can be a potential health threat, they’re also a nuisance to guests and can give visitors a bad impression about the facility’s cleanliness. Removing attractants is a start, but keeping pests from coming inside can also make a big difference. Exclusion is another large part of a strong IPM program, and it simply means turning a business into a fortress by eliminating potential entry points.

It doesn’t take a lot of food particles or moisture to draw pests inside. Therefore, it takes diligence and constant improvement to minimize attractants and block pests from getting inside.

Here are some proactive tips.

• Take out the trash. Many pests will feed off garbage and organic waste, so removing trash at least daily is a must. Do not leave waste in bins overnight. Also, be sure all garbage bins have a lid of some type to cut off pests and reduce the odors that draw them in. If possible, keep dumpsters and recycling collections at least 40 feet away from the exterior of the building.
• Seal pests out. Walk around the exterior of the building and use caulk or another waterproof sealant to seal up any cracks and crevices. Pests can fit through remarkably small gaps, so the more openings that are sealed up the better. Rats fit through a hole the size of a quarter, mice through a hole the size of a dime, while ants and roaches can fit through just about any sized gap.
• Keep storage areas neat and tidy. Often overlooked, storage areas are prone to pest problems. Extra boxes and debris from packaging make for great hiding spots, while the abundance of food is extremely attractive to pests. A small problem can get out of hand quickly in a storage area because in the right conditions pests can reproduce remarkably quickly and begin spreading to other areas in the building. Remove clutter, clean containers before putting new product inside, keep containers off the floor, and use tightly-sealed packages to reduce the risk of pests.
• Use screens on windows and keep doors closed. Often pests will come in right through the front door. Keep doors and windows closed as much as possible and inspect screens covering windows for holes regularly if they’re going to be left open. If you do want to leave a door or window open regularly, put a greater emphasis on keeping the inside of your facility clean.
• Clean up spills immediately. Food particles and sugary drink spills will attract pests in no time, so they need to be wiped up as soon as they occur. Waiting will only make things worse.

Pay Attention to the Great Outdoors

Stringent sanitization practices shouldn’t be limited to indoor areas. In fact, keeping the property surrounding the business neat and tidy can drastically decrease the pest pressure faced indoors.

Pests love clutter, especially in the form of vegetation, tree branches, or trash. Wood piles can be an attractant for termites, roaches, and spiders, and should be kept far away from the building to avoid serving as a “jumping off point” or easy access avenue inside. Don’t forget to clean out gutters and rooftop ledges either as clogging can lead to a buildup of soil and moisture perfect for hosting pests.

Landscaping is an important part of helping keep the premises clean and pest-free. Trim back vegetation and thin out thick bushes, which can host mosquitoes and other flying pests if left too thick for air to pass through. Make sure branches don’t make contact with the structure to provide a bridge for pest access. If planting something new, try to keep it at least a foot away from the building, or risk creating a natural jumping off point. Consider a barrier of rock around the perimeter as pests will find this less hospitable. Rodents will often hide under bushes and shrubs until they can find an opening in a building’s exterior, so don’t give them the chance to lurk around.

Anywhere there’s standing water, pests will accumulate—especially mosquitoes. Rodents and flies will use standing water for nourishment as well. If allowed to sit for too long, standing water will be a pit stop for pests on their way inside of a building. Any spots where flooding occurs regularly will be a pest hot spot, so make sure to have proper runoff to take the water away.

While these proactive pest management tips will help to reduce the chances of pests, it’s still possible they might find a way inside. But working with a pest management professional to establish a tailored plan focused on preventive tactics, careful monitoring, and quick action after an issue is discovered will help keep pests out and protect a business.

If still encountering a pest problem despite these proactive pest management tips, a pest management professional will be able to recommend the fastest and most effective course of action.

Although there are a lot of different approaches to prevent pests, the most important thing is to clean and sanitize as regularly as possible. If pests don’t have a food and water source and a safe place to harbor, they can’t survive. Simple as that.

Ramsey is technical services manager for Orkin. He is a board-certified entomologist and provides technical support and guidance across all Rollins brands in the areas of training and education, operations, and marketing. Reach him at gramsey1@rollins.com.

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Warm temperatures have arrived, which means summer is right around the corner! Unfortunately, it also signals prime pest season.

Think: If you were a pest, where would you go? Pests can detect food at a distance and will aim straight for the source, which could very likely be inside of your food processing facility. Because many pests are tiny and can fit through small spaces, they can be incredibly difficult to keep out—you might not even realize when pests are hiding in the facility. But ahead of your next audit, you’ll want to do everything to prevent and remove them so there aren’t any surprises that take points off your score.

Most facilities are already employing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program to proactively help prevent pests from finding a way inside. If you haven’t yet implemented an IPM program, then do so as soon as possible. IPM is a customizable, sustainable solution that focuses on prevention and exclusion tactics for pest management, using traditional treatments only as a last resort. Each IPM program is tailored to the individual facility, considering a variety of factors including region, surrounding environment, facility design, and more to create the most effective plan possible. Documentation is essential to IPM programs, serving as a measure of success and marking the need for program changes to you and your pest management provider, which in turn demonstrates preventive control program and pest management efforts and progress to an auditor.

It’s important that an IPM program is in place before summer, or you’ll run the risk of an infestation. The three most likely pests to invade food processing facilities and cause a problem are cockroaches, ants, and flies. These pests pose the biggest threat to facilities, especially since infestations can set in rapidly during summer’s prime conditions for pest activity.

Cockroaches

A year-round threat, cockroaches pose a unique challenge to food processing facilities. Over their multi-million-year history, cockroaches have become one of the most resilient creatures in the world. A notoriously hardy pest, they can sometimes find their way inside by hitchhiking on products or employees’ personal belongings, although usually cockroaches come in directly from the outdoors. Vents, sewage pipes, and drain pipes are all potential points of entry.

Cockroaches are less likely to be spotted during business hours than some other pests because they’re nocturnal pests, most often in hiding during the day. Cockroaches are known to hide when they sense danger as well, which can make them even more difficult to detect at times. When one is spotted, it is usually a good signal that more are present and hiding in the facility walls, basement, or other areas with less human traffic. A cockroach sighting could mean that it was forced out of hiding due to overcrowding, which is never something you want behind the scenes.

Known disease spreaders, cockroaches leave dangerous pathogens wherever they travel. They aren’t picky eaters, so they frequently can be found around garbage and other organic waste. After mulling around and collecting microscopic particles on their legs and bodies, they can then transfer these particles onto products and equipment by simply walking over them. The CDC notes that cockroaches have been known carriers of Salmonella typhimirium, Entamoeba histolytica, and the poliomyelitis virus. Alongside the several dangerous diseases they can cause, their saliva, feces, and shedding body parts can also trigger allergy and asthma issues.

Rapid reproduction is another facet of cockroaches that makes them such a problem. There are many different species of cockroaches, and reproduction times differ slightly between them. However, the American cockroach (one of the most common) can lay eggs that will hatch approximately 15 cockroach nymphs in about a month.

Prevention is critical, so below are some actions to make positive changes today.

• Seal off any cracks and crevices on the exterior of the building. Use caulk or another water-resistant sealant to block off potential entryways. Cockroaches can flatten their bodies to fit through crevices, so seal any gaps you can find.
• Install automatic doors in primary entryways. Automatic doors decrease the window of opportunity that a cockroach has to enter the facility.
• Sanitize all equipment, eating areas, and other areas with exposed food and drink daily. Cockroaches are attracted to food particles, so cleaning spills immediately and sanitizing regularly can cut down on attractants that bring them indoors.
• Take out the trash daily and keep dumpsters at least 40 feet away from the building. Food and other organic waste are a big part of a cockroach’s diet—keep it as far away from your facility as possible.
• Eliminate areas where moisture collects. Like any living organism, cockroaches need water to survive. Decreasing their access to a consistent water source will decrease the likelihood that they’ll want to make a home inside your building.
• Have an incoming supply inspection program to prevent infestation coming with the shipments.

If you think that the facility might be dealing with a cockroach infestation, call a pest management professional. Usually, a few sightings in a month is evidence of a larger issue.

If not sure, the following are telltale signs of an infestation.

• Feces that look like coffee grounds or black pepper, especially in multitude, are a good indicator of a hidden cockroach population. Larger roaches expel cylindrical droppings.
• Many species, especially if they are reproducing and the colony has become quite large, emit an unpleasant oily or musty odor.
• Oval-shaped egg cases, called oothecae, can be found in dark hidden locations indicating American or Oriental cockroach infestation. German cockroaches carry their ootheca until the eggs are ready to hatch. Examples of potential locations include behind equipment, under floor drains, and inside large appliances. If you see egg casings, it’s time to act swiftly.

There are thousands of cockroach species across the globe, and each has its own unique characteristics. Some can fly, although luckily most are not strong fliers, while others are more likely to jump when disturbed. It can be difficult to correctly identify the species without the help of a pest management professional’s expertise—if not properly identified, it will be nearly impossible to create the most appropriate, customized solution to a cockroach problem.

Ants

Like cockroaches, ants are a crawling pest that can fit through miniscule gaps in a building’s exterior in search of food. They aren’t known to spread diseases like cockroaches, but can compromise food products and hurt your bottom line in the event of product losses after they forcibly break in and steal food to eat or take back to the nest.

Their ability to use chemical trails to lead others in their colony to food sources is well documented, as is their ability to use pheromones to signal danger. These characteristics exist in most ant species, but what makes ants so tough to deal with is the diverse habits between different species. Noting where and how many ants you’ve found can be valuable information for a pest management professional. That being said, accurate identification, as with cockroach species, will still be difficult without the help of a properly trained pest provider.

Take the carpenter ant for instance. One of the more common species across the U.S., the carpenter ant makes its nest in wood and is often mistaken for a termite. Although they do not eat wood, they can establish themselves inside of a building structure and bore into exposed wood, especially if there are any areas where moisture is collecting. Carpenter ants will build satellite colonies separate from the parent colony, so if you spot ants around wood shavings and areas of excavated wood, it’s important to act quickly. While carpenter ants will live in wood primarily, they can still cost big points on an audit when they go out foraging for food. In addition, their tendency to destroy wood can be devastating to the longevity of a facility.

Ant prevention is similar to cockroach prevention, and shares some similarities with fly prevention as well. The same exclusion tactics used for cockroaches, like caulking any cracks and crevices on the outside of the facility, will work for ants. Don’t forget to trim the trees and other vegetation that may touch the building exterior and provide access to the building. The only difference is that ants can fit through even smaller gaps, so it’s essential to pay close attention to openings in your building’s exterior. Regular sanitation and garbage removal will also help remove attractants that draw ants.

Flies

In terms of filthiness, flies are even worse than cockroaches—they’re twice as filthy and are often nicknamed the microbial dispenser. They spend most of their time feeding on garbage and organic material, and then will go straight from these areas to land on another food source. When they do so, they transfer thousands of potentially disease-spreading pathogens just like cockroaches.

One type of fly that is frequently overlooked is the drain fly, which is appropriately named after its tendency to feed and breed in drains where organic material has not been completely washed away. These little flies will look like gnats in the air and can move from drain to drain in a facility if the problem is not resolved quickly. Keeping drains clean and free of debris is the only way to keep them from making your facility their new home.

Like both cockroaches and ants, proper sanitation will eliminate many of the attractants that draw flies inside. It is important to install screens over windows and avoid leaving doors open for extended periods of time. Often flies get in by simply flying through the front door, especially if the building has a negative air pressure. Installing automatic doors, air curtains, maintaining positive air pressure, and fly lights can help greatly decrease the likelihood of a rogue fly finding its way inside of a facility.

While all three of these pests have similar habits, and can be prevented using some of the same methods, each poses its own challenge to food processing facilities. Cleanliness and maintenance can make a huge difference in the battle against summer pests, but a full IPM program is the best way to make sure your facility is prepared for pests during the season they’re most active.

 Dr. Siddiqi, director of quality systems for Orkin, is a board-certified entomologist with more than 35 years in the industry. Reach him at zsiddiqi@orkin.com.

The post Watch Out for These 3 Summertime Pests appeared first on Food Quality & Safety.

An experienced restaurateur knows that both the heart and the brain of a successful restaurant rest within its commercial kitchen. Sleight of hand in a busy catering or retail operation may go a long way but engineering the chef’s workstation to not only fit the theme of the food business, but to also consider best food safety practices goes much further. For someone who’s considering entering the realm of hospitality by exploring either catering or retail facilities, it’s best to not assume that a commercial kitchen functions just like a domestic one. When things begin to fall apart in the kitchen, it results in a domino effect that eventually snowballs into outlandish PR. Building a commercial kitchen from scratch or renovating an existing one can be done successfully with a holistic approach.

Some of the components that tend to be overlooked whilst designing and/or renovating a commercial kitchen are: approvals, risk assessments, smart space utilization, equipment selection and placement, process management, food waste management, integrated pest management (IPM), and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).

Approvals

Wouldn’t it be a comedown to have sections of a fully purpose built kitchen torn down only because the scope of activity or the flow of work was not approved by the regulatory authorities prior to commencing the operation? It’s best to be mindful of the local regulation and guidelines pertaining to the food business. There are specific food safety requirements when it comes to storage, processing, and serving certain categories of food products such as halal, certified organic, gluten-free, dairy free, etc. The rule of thumb for franchised food establishments is to not only follow the parent or corporate guidelines but also to reflect the regional food safety regulations. Working with a multi-disciplinary team that comprises members who are well versed in food flow, inventory, engineering and maintenance, fire safety, pest control, cleaning and disinfection, and waste management would not only help gain more insight but also facilitate future growth. Altering or modifying the dining area is comparatively easier than remodeling the commercial kitchen.

Risk Assessments

A good commercial kitchen is designed in parallel with the menu. Based on space availability, the kitchen needs to accommodate a linear workflow to prevent cross-contamination. For instance, modifying the menu at a later stage to incorporate a high risk product such as homemade ice cream presumably would result in the surfacing of various food safety deviations simply because the existing floor plan of the kitchen did not factor in requirements such as storage space, ingredient flow, and processing. Planning remains incomplete without thorough risk assessments and menu analysis.

Smart Space Utilization and Ergonomics

It’s time to uncomplicate. Let’s not see a commercial kitchen as mulligatawny soup.

It doesn’t matter how elaborate and well-equipped a commercial kitchen is, if ergonomics was not a part of the designing process. The lesser the steps involved for members of the kitchen and service team to complete a task, the greater is the efficiency of the team. Also, through the simple principles of ergonomics, one is more likely to reduce the chances of cross-contamination, which is the ogre of any food business. Employee safety and mobility are and should be, of paramount importance. An example to illustrate ergonomics would be the use of under-counter chillers. This limits the need to walk to the allocated walk-in refrigerators frequently and also saves a lot of space. One needs to be mindful of the heights of equipment because a mismatch could not only hinder the process but also result in injuries.

Selection and Placement of Equipment

The food and beverage industry is constantly evolving and that adds to the plethora of commercial kitchen grade equipment to select from. Keeping budget frames in mind, choosing the right type of equipment such as fryers, combi-ovens, under-counter refrigerators, preparation sinks, etc. depends on not just the available space, but also the workforce capacity and of course, maintenance. It’s certainly a good initiative to opt for state-of-the-art equipment if the business can afford it. However, the said investment would prove to be futile if the maintenance and replacement of worn out parts proved to be a daunting task.

The main factor that the efficiency as well as safety of a kitchen relies on is the placement of the equipment. It is recommended to place fast cooking equipment, such as griddles and fryers, closer to the point of service and bulk cooking points where multiple ingredients meet, such as boiling pans and pots, within the core of the kitchen’s “hot section” and distant from the service points. Not only does this cut down opportunities for cross-contamination but it also facilitates quicker assembly and delivery.

Process Management

Without having to compromise on the authenticity of a specific recipe, certain processes could be combined if not reduced to both increase the efficiency of workflow and also eliminate chances for cross-contamination. For instance, pre-sanitized vegetables could very well replace the need to sanitize the greens in-house. This technique also reduces the chances of over dosage of chlorine based sanitizer tablets used in most conventional produce washing processes. Creating working zones ensures seamless workflow, reduces chaos, and enhances cross-functional communication within the kitchen. Zones within the kitchen do not necessarily need to be visibly demarcated but they shouldn’t overlap with processes that could result in cross-contamination.

Food Waste Management

The emphasis needs to lie on not just conventional waste management but reducing food wastage as well. Although time and temperature remain the pivotal elements that dictate the shelf life of food, certain variables like portions and stock rotation could ensure that food wastage remains minimal. Having good contingency plans in case a refrigerator or freezer unit breaks down would prove to be beneficial.

IPM

Ideally speaking, pest control begins as the kitchen and other areas of the premises are being constructed. Access and exit points should be sealed off from pests’ entry and harborage. Choosing the right building materials would support IPM to a great extent. Electric fly killers work best when it’s positioned away from sources of bright light and for obvious food safety reasons, they must never be installed atop food preparation and processing areas. Certain food businesses feel that they need to install the fly killer “somewhere.” The UV lamps utilized in fly killers are designed to attract insects and installing a unit where insect activity never existed before might take a turn for the opposite. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. Baits and traps, when utilized, should be installed based on the local environment and health regulations.

HVAC

HVAC ensures a comfortable and safe work environment within the commercial kitchen. A good HVAC contractor would test for flue gases since combustion safety cannot be ignored—again, this goes back to being backed by a multi-disciplinary team during the initial phases of designing or renovating a commercial kitchen. That being said, installing a hood to extract fumes by itself does not entail a complete ventilation system. Depending on the nature of the food business, the equipment in use, and the bulk of food that is cooked, there are various regulations pertaining to kitchen ventilation systems. The general rule of thumb is vent hoods are coupled with fire suppression systems over most cooking equipment. Make-up air systems carry equal importance on the ventilation priority list and this can be competently designed provided the steam generating and heat generating units in the kitchen are considered.

It’s quite a fulfilling and satisfying experience to watch a restaurant, a café, or a retail space materialize from scratch. During the transition from “print to brick,” walking the plan during buildup helps identify areas of improvement and nip away potential gaps.

Sebastian is a registered (GCC and U.K.) food safety consultant, speaker, and trainer with Dubai-based food safety consultancy, Apex Food Consultants. Reach her at judysebatian@gmail.com.

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Why is pest control a necessity in food processing facilities?

You can start with your audit scores and reputation. Third-party audits are a serious matter for food processing facilities. Just one low score can cause your customers to lose trust in your business—and if those customers pull their support, you could see a major impact on your bottom line.

Taking the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into account, food processing facilities have every reason to strengthen their pest control program and documentation efforts to not only follow and implement a risk-based prevention program to protect their product and consumer base, but also be audit-ready at any time. Success on your third-party audit hinges on documentation, and the pest management portion can make all the difference in your score—it accounts for up to 20 percent.

Then there are the pests themselves.

Cockroaches and ants can pick up and transfer harmful bacteria. Flies can spread disease-causing organisms everywhere they land—and they land frequently, leaving their traces in an abundance of places.

Then there are rodents, which can also cause serious health problems. According to the CDC, rats and mice are known to spread bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli, as well as more than 35 diseases worldwide, such as hantavirus.

From its impact on audit scores to its role in abating health concerns and to brand protection, pest control should be a priority for any food processing facility. An ongoing, comprehensive, and well-documented Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, which focuses on risk-based preventive strategies like sanitation and facility maintenance to help prevent pest activity, is ideal for food processing facilities.

Picking the Right Partner

With all this in mind, it’s important to find the right, licensed pest management professional who will partner with you and your staff to implement a customized IPM program for your facility and help keep pest problems away. But the key word here is “partnership.”

When starting your search for a pest management partner, be sure to ask about IPM. IPM is the preferred pest management practice of NSF International’s food safety audits and helps meet and exceed the requirements of industry auditors. One-size-fits-all pest management solutions are simply not effective, so look for a provider who can tailor an IPM program specifically to your facility and your needs.

The following guidelines can help you search for a pest management partner that stands out from the crowd.

Start your search with your peers. If you’re looking for pest management recommendations, start by talking to your industry colleagues. If your facility is part of a larger network, you may also consider talking with other managers about their pest management providers and their results.

Insist on an inspection before you sign. Once you have a list of providers to check out, it’s time to see how they treat your facility—don’t choose a provider sight unseen. Your partnership with a potential pest management provider should start with a full inspection and assessment of your facility.

Remember, IPM programs are customizable to specific facilities. A thorough inspection will help the potential provider determine what type of services you need in yours.

Get the details in writing. FSMA requires food processing facilities to develop and execute written risk-based preventive food safety plans that detail likely hazards, corrective actions, and results. With this in mind, your pest management professional should thoroughly document any service visits and corrective actions.

You want a provider who not only documents his or her every move but also uses the documented information to determine pest trends and aid in decisions about how to best manage pest activity going forward. These records should be kept onsite for any surprise audits.

Speaking of audits…Because pest management can account for so much of your total audit score, there’s a lot riding on the success of your pest management program. In addition to documentation, your pest management professional should work with you to ensure all documents are in proper order and audit ready at any time.

Look for a pest management provider that can help you get prepared for the third-party auditor, based on the food safety standards with which your facility is required to comply, and even provide onsite support the day of your audit.

Keep your staff in mind, too. Even the greatest pest management plans can struggle in facilities that don’t have buy-in from the staff. Your staff plays an important role in reporting pest sightings and keeping your facility clean.

With this in mind, make sure to ask about resources a pest management provider can offer your staff. Many providers offer staff training and educational resources like tip sheets and checklists—often at no extra cost.

Image Credit: Orkin

Establish thresholds. Even with a proactive, responsive pest management partner, creating a pest-free environment can be difficult but achievable. To get to this goal, thresholds should be set. Thresholds dictate how much pest activity—and what types of pests—are acceptable before corrective actions need to be taken.

Thresholds are best set by working with your pest control professional because there are several factors that come into play.

For instance, if you’re in an older facility or located in an environment that is more conducive to pest activity, such as areas that are near water, heavily wooded or warm, your pest management provider may want to counter these challenges with exclusion recommendations that can include extensive building maintenance and repairs.

If you’re in a newer building and don’t currently battle any present pest issues, it may be perfectly reasonable to move forward with a “one pest is one too many” threshold. You can continue partnering with your provider to adjust your IPM program over time to ensure that your pest management program stays effective.

Even with a sound IPM plan, however, if you are currently battling pests—whether they are cockroaches, ants, flies, or rodents—it will take time to reach your threshold goals. Work with your pest management provider to create a timeline for steady and reasonable improvement.

Once you choose a pest management provider, lean on constant communication and hammer out the roles of everyone involved. Set benchmarks for your pest management program and establish specific times throughout the year to evaluate the program’s success and areas of improvement with your provider.

Keep all of this in mind, and you can help build a solid, long-lasting partnership with your next pest control provider.

Dr. Siddiqi is director of quality systems for Orkin, LLC. A board certified entomologist with more than 35 years in the industry, Dr. Siddiqi is an acknowledged leader in the field of pest management. Reach him at zsiddiqi@orkin.com.

The post Key Factors to Look for When Choosing a Pest Control Professional appeared first on Food Quality & Safety.

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a five-part series of articles that provide a practical approach to various pest control topics.

Food processing plants—large and small—are hard to run on your own. But you don’t have to be alone in the fight against pests.

Consider soliciting help from staff members to help facilitate your facility’s pest management program. After all, more eyes looking out for pests will increase the likelihood of spotting a problem before an infestation sets in. Beyond reporting pest activity, your staff can actually play a role in the pest management program itself once they understand how their day-to-day responsibilities can help support your overall Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. This will push your facility even closer to the goal of IPM: Preventing pest activity proactively, rather than reactively, by promoting regular facility maintenance and stringent sanitation to diminish the food, water, and shelter pests need to survive.

To teach staff about pest management and get them on board with your facility’s pest management program, keep the following five steps in mind.

1. Take every chance to learn. Pest management is an ongoing cycle of activities that includes continuous monitoring and periodic reevaluation of the facility’s program. This means that, as pest activity changes, there is a chance for you and your staff to learn the science behind pests and the treatment options that can help manage the problem. But before going that far in-depth, learning the basics is essential. Ask your pest management professional to provide onsite IPM training for staff to ensure they understand the importance of proactive pest prevention. In addition, request your pest management professional provide educational materials like tip sheets that employees can refer to after the training session. Professional associations, such as the International Association for Food Protection and International HACCP Alliance, may also be able to share educational resources if the pest management professional is not capable of doing so. Don’t forget to teach staff about the signs of pest activity you look for every day—such as droppings, gnaw marks, and rub marks—so they can play a part in catching pest issues at the start.

2. Establish a focus on “hot spots.” Each food manufacturing facility has pest “hot spots,” which are internal and external areas that both provide conducive conditions and are prone to pest activity. Hot spots for food processing facilities often include floor drains, loading docks, and food storage areas. Exterior walls with even the thinnest of cracks and crevices pose a threat to the building, as pests like cockroaches need just 1/16 of an inch to crawl into the facility. Request staff members keep a close eye on their surroundings so they can help point out any and all sanitation and maintenance issues that may give pests an “in” to the building. If any issues are identified, work with your pest management professional to resolve the problem through exclusion techniques, a stringent sanitation program, and pest treatment when needed.

3. Assign a role to each of the staff members. An exemplary pest management program has many components to help keep pests away from your property and products. Although it may seem that weaving IPM into the staff’s daily responsibilities will cause confusion, many hands can actually make for light work when it comes to pest management. Keep the complication to a minimum with staff by giving just one or two responsibilities to each person. Further, consider making those responsibilities align with the daily tasks each staff member executes, ensuring the pest prevention responsibilities are within their comfort zone. At the same time you assign the responsibilities to staff members, also make sure to explain who they should notify if a pest issue arises.

4. Communicate well and frequently. Once everyone begins to play their assigned role in the facility’s pest management program, be sure to establish open lines of communication from you to your staff to your pest management professional. Without effective, frequent communication, discrepancies may begin to develop in your program—which can ultimately lead your facility to a reactive approach to pest issues, rather than a proactive one. By building a positive relationship between your staff and your pest management professional, you’ll continue reaping the benefits of your IPM program in the long run.

5. Handle each situation by following pest sighting protocol. Although you may have followed the first four steps to a “T,” there’s always a possibility pest activity will set in at the facility. Since all hands are on deck, it’s important to set a pest sighting protocol to guarantee everyone at the facility knows how to communicate pest activity to both you and your pest management professional.

• Request that at least one of the pests whether insects or rodents be caught and provided to the pest management professional for positive identification. Information on where and when the pest was seen should be shared as well.
• Let the pest management professional take the time to properly identify the insect based on its biology, behavior, and appearance. This will ensure that proper treatment methods can be recommended for your facility.
• Help the pest management professional determine where the entry point for the insect lies in order to prevent further pest penetration.

If the mentioned five steps are enforced with staff, you will see an added value to your pest management program that may not have existed before. Remember to always take the time to teach staff so everyone can enjoy the benefits of minimal to no pest activity at your facility.

Dr. Siddiqi is director of quality systems for Orkin, LLC. A board certified entomologist with more than 30 years in the industry, he is an acknowledged leader in the field of pest management. Dr. Siddiqi can be reached at zsiddiqi@orkin.com.

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