Steps You and Your Employees Can Take to Stave Off Pests

• 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.