THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING YOUR RESTAURANTS FROM PESTS
May 16, 2020
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Shailee Milind Shah gives significant reasons why you should hire a professional pest exterminator company for your food business to protect your restaurant brand.
“Oh my god! There is a rat roaming around the tables!!” This sentence has to be the worst nightmare of all restaurant owners. Why? Well, firstly you will terrify your customers of rats or concerned about the contamination that pests can cause to food in your restaurants. This can lead to bad reviews that can go viral and scare away customers. All the effort you put in to ensure top quality food, a nice ambience and efficient service at your restaurant means nothing if even one customer catches sight of a rodent lurking in or around their table or an insect in their meal. They will identify this with unhygienic conditions at your restaurant. Word travels fast in this age of social media and technology, and before you know it, the reputation you’ve spent so much time and energy building up is jeopardized by a post, blog or video.
So let us understand the need for pest control, not limited to restaurants alone. The purpose of pest control is to ensure better safety and protection of your well being and that of others around you.Rodents and insects infestation at home or a workplace can cause harm to you, your family and your staff. In a restaurants, rodents and insects carry harmful bacteria which can contaminate food and cause illness among staff members or customers. Stings and bites can also be a cause of concern. Then you have pests that damage your furniture, linen and appliances.
It’s important you take steps to nip the problem of pest infestation on a regular basis.
These were the basic FAQs that restaurateurs have when it comes to
pest control.
1. What kind of pest control does a restaurant need?
* Control treatment for red ants and black ants.
* Mice and Rodent Control
*Control treatment for cockroaches
* Control treatment for mosquitoes
* Control treatment for spiders
*Control treatment for lizards
* Fly control treatment.
The frequency of pest control depends on factors like the geographical
location, the neighbourhood and the cleanliness standards of the
building in which your restaurant is located. Generally, we recommend
that pest control must be done once a month for small restaurants,
once in a fortnight for medium sized restaurants and once a week for
bigger restaurants.
2. What are the measures a food business should take to reduce chances
of pest infestation?
Regular routine checks in your restaurant. Regular routine checks in the building or neighbourhood. Invest in pest prevention tools. Retain a professional pest control company with a team that is expert when it comes to controlling pests in the food service industry. The pest control company selected should be capable of all steps of pest control from assessing and managing issues to the safe and hygienic management of pests.
The process that a professional pest control company will take includes:
Inspection
Evaluation
Designing a Custom Plan based on the results of the inspection and
evaluation
3. What does a restaurant need to ensure during and after the pest
control treatment?
During the pest control it is absolutely necessary to clear out the
areas where the treatments take place. This ensures deep cleaning and
spread of the control services to ensure treatment of all crevices,
voids and cracks.
After pest control, clean the sprayed places as per your routine after a minimum period of two hours of completion of treatments. Ensure you maintain and clean equipments as often as possible.
The staff should ensure proper waste control. Green & blue bins are made for a reason. Keep bins empty and clean.
Maintaining cleanliness everywhere is a must. If there is spillage then clean it instantly.
Always keep the area of cooking clean and sanitised.
All prepared food should be covered properly.
4. How can you plan for keeping a restaurant as pest free as possible?
Always use approved and trusted suppliers for raw materials.
Check all the deliveries for signs of pest.
Use concrete or sheet metal to cover the pipes and openings.
Floor drains should be covered with hinged grates.
Make sure to seal all the cracks in floors and walls.
Use door sweeps on every door. It acts like an automatic sweeper
and as a safe protocol.
Air curtains above all doors can be very effective.
Avoid using furniture that leaves cracks and crevices. At the design
and architecture stage too you can ensure that there are minimum
crevices and wall voids for pests.
Avoid leaving any loose floor tiles that can leave gaps for pests to thrive.
Wood is an attraction for termites. If you have a profusion of wooden
furniture and wooden surfaces it is advisable to keep the place dry at
all times. Check all wooden surfaces regularly for termites.
If your foundation is nearer to soil, you need to keep in mind that
there are chances of bugs.
For rats, they usually leave a black urine mark which can be
checked through UV lights. This helps understand whether there are
rodents moving around or not.
About Author
A student of Liberal Studies at PDPU, Gandhinagar, SHAILEE MILIND SHAH handles the communications of ALFA PEST CONTROL, which handles various aspects of pest control and sanitation.
Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.