A Plan of Attack Against Stored Product Insects

Appropriate packaging for raw materials and finished goods. Sufficiently robust and airtight packaging will help prevent infestation in food manufacturing facilities, during transportation, and at customer locations.

Tight fitting insect screens and screen doors. The insect screens should receive regular inspection and maintenance to ensure proper protection.

Waste management. It is important to have a policy in place that all waste should be placed in sealed bags. Waste containers should be thoroughly cleaned before every delivery and kept closed except when waste is being added. External drains, sumps, and pits should also be cleaned regularly as these areas offer potential harborage for pests.

Inspection of incoming raw materials. Stored insect pest infestations in a facility can be confined to a small area such as a bag or pallet of raw material. If undetected, the infestation can disperse rapidly throughout the premises. For this reason, it’s essential to be vigilant in inspection and monitoring. Incoming stock should be inspected for any evidence of live pest activity away from the main storage area. If found the shipment should be rejected immediately and returned to the supplier.

Benefits of a Proactive Approach

The application of practical and scientific experience to provide a tailored solution for a particular environment is the first step in proactively minimizing the risk of pest infestation and protecting a food manufacturing business from SPIs. The best approach considers all available preventative and curative options. While pesticides are an important and necessary part of a proactive approach, the goal of an SPI control program is to reduce the amount of pesticides used, which is a better method all the way around for a food manufacturing facility.

A proactive plan can involve a number of techniques, including the following.

Pheromone program. Stored product insects can be monitored using the appropriate lures. When captured species reach specified count levels in the traps, specialized treatment procedures should be initiated.

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Light traps. Commercial traps with UV light will occasionally trap SPIs. Activity can be recorded to monitor and ensure early detection of any pests.

Dusting. Certain dusts can be employed with pesticides to control moisture, inhibiting pest harborage.

Precision spraying. Targeted spot crack and crevice treatments can be useful to eradicate localized SPIs in a structural environment. Success is dependent on adequate access and cleaning of loose or impacted residues and the use of approved materials that prevent product contamination.

ULV program. An ultra low volume, or ULV, program can be used to knock down the adult population and find potential harborage/breeding sites.

High Temperature. In some situations where a fumigant cannot be used, infested fresh commodities such as nuts, dried fruits, and grains can be heat treated using trailers, sea containers, or heat pods. All stages of insects are eradicated by heating the material for most products one to four hours at 120 degree Fahrenheit.

Grain protectants. Prevention and control of stored product insects must be considered from harvest to storage and processing. Grain protectants involve the application of insecticidal dusts and sprays directly to grain while in storage in silos on farms or at mills or during transportation. Because most grains are used for human consumption, there are strict guidelines that control the use of grain protectants. Proper application is based on the natural decay of the pesticide residues to low levels during the storage or transportation of the grain so that it can later be processed into edible foods.

Exterior protection. Where exterior infestations have been identified, it may be necessary to apply an approved insecticide treatment to pest activity sites outside buildings and storage facilities. These treatments can reduce the risk of SPI infestation.

Management and Recordkeeping

The negative consequences of pest infestation is exacerbated for food manufacturing and processing operations because they are typically subject to stringent audits by customers, corporate head offices, as well as independent industry auditing bodies. When auditing is required, up-to-date and easily accessible records are essential in demonstrating that pest control is managed effectively. This is one reason many businesses subject to auditing requirements choose to partner with a professional pest control supplier who can devote full attention to managing and documenting a proactive plan to control pests and provide online reporting tools, freeing the organization to focus on its core activities.