Pest Control in Restaurants – Common Challenges / Effective Methods

Hello, my faithful “dog-blog” friends. Thank you for joining me, Hunter, once again for a small dose of pest control wisdom. The majority of my blogs are to do with Residential pest control. This week and next, I am touching on Commercial pest control; a very important part of Loyal’s business model. We are very fortunate to have working relationships with many of Richmond’s finer restaurants and have for many years. A solid pest control management program is essential to the overall success of any restaurant.

If proper pest control measures and precautions are not taken, health and financial risks can become a huge problem in the restaurant business. Pest control in food industry facilities is slightly more challenging than residential pest control due to the public nature of restaurants; including public health, reputation, effective management, and the nature of food processing.

Common Challenges:

Sanitation: The primary concern in a restaurant is public health. With all the hustle and bustle that occurs daily; insects can accidentally get processed into, or their feces or saliva can come in contact with food (now that is a gross thought, isn’t it?). With the potential to pass E. coli, staph or food poisoning on to customers; flies and cockroaches alone make up 95 different kinds of bacteria and human diseases.

Reputation: In order to keep customers satisfied and returning to their establishment, restaurants must provide them with a reliable product. If the customer’s safety is compromised, then the reputation of a restaurant can be easily tarnished, especially when there is a lack of responsible pest control.
Comfort and Safety: Due to the use of harmful chemicals that can permeate the air and get in contact with food prep areas, pest control in food industry settings can pose a health risk to customers if not handled carefully. Visible pest control, such as insect catchers, traps or bait may tip off customers that there is a pest issue. Efficient pest control in restaurants involves unobtrusive methods that will aid restaurants in offering a safe comfortable environment for their customers.

Effective Pest Control Management Methods for Restaurants:

Educate staff: It is important that managers and food handlers are well informed about the risks of pests. Checklists can be used to keep track of machine and utensil servicing. Employees need to know about pest infestation signs to look out for; (dirt tracks, eggs, etc.), common nesting material, and the presence of insects that may appear harmless. Basically, the staff needs the tools and awareness to be on top of pest problems.

Keep everything as clean, dry and inaccessible as possible: If pests do not have access to the facilities, or water or food, they will not be a problem. Food processing equipment has to be properly cleaned and food garbage bags have to be secure. The dumpster area has to be maintained as that is a big draw for rodents.

Conduct regular pest inspections: There has to be monthly inspections of the facility. A manager should note the date and time of these inspections with attention to the temperature in the food processing area, building integrity issues, general sanitation practices, etc. If problems do exist there needs to be a record and other important details. Vents and screens need to be checked so that air intake and circulation systems are working properly and are well maintained. A manager can perform these frequent inspections as part of his job description or a professional pest control company can do them.

Do you feel a song coming on? Who ya’ gonna’ call? Call Loyal!! I say, Who ya’ gonna’ call? Call Loyal!! Now that sounds pretty good to me! It’s what we do!

I hope you enjoyed the information in this week’s blog. You may not own a restaurant but I’m sure you eat in a bunch of them. It is important that your favorite restaurant practice all of these pest control management principals.

If you have any questions; please contact us. So, until next time, this is Hunter, Loyal’s K-9 Termite Detective just wondering, What’s Buggin’ You?

I’ll be barking at you again next week. Ruff! Ruff!