Preventing Pest Infestations in Food Establishments

The sight of pests in food establishments is not acceptable. If you own a food establishment and you are having troubles with pests like rats and cockroaches, you should be alarmed. This is not a good sign. You need to tackle the issue as soon as possible before health inspectors come and close your establishment.

Pests transmit many pathogens that can contaminate foods. Contaminated foods can bring upon food poisoning.  As a business owner, it is your responsibility to make sure that your customers eat nothing but clean and safe foods. NEA (National Environment Agency) released guidelines on the prevention of pest infestations in food establishments. You need to consider the following things:

Signs of Infestations

You have to look out for signs of the infestations. Do not wait for your customers to sight rats and cockroaches. You will know when rats are present if you notice rat droppings, rat burrows and gnaw marks. For the cockroaches, you will notice cockroach droppings, stinking smell and cockroach eggs.

Food Sources and Shelters

Rats and cockroaches love the kitchen because it provides shelter, food and water. Business owners need to remove food sources and shelters of pests to curb their population. The best thing to do is to maintain the cleanliness of the kitchen.

Getting Pest Control

Establishments can perform chemical or physical pest control. Chemical pest control refers to pesticides. But this should be handled by experts because the possibility of contamination is big. Physical pest control refers to pest traps.

Pest Control Management

You should execute pest control management system. The NEA has a list of licensed companies that can deal with your infestations professionally. The pest control management company will give the right solution based on the establishment’s needs and extent of the problem.