Pest
Control
Every food business should need to
implement an integrated pest management with a control program involving series
of integrated measures to control pest. Pest require warmth, food, shelter, a
nesting place and security from predators. Food manufacturing and holding
premises provide all these where controlling or denial of these factors is
known as environmental control and most important control measure intended to
prevent infestation.
Environmental
Controls
Environmental control or the
prevention may be considered as denial of access by design, maintenance and
proofing of buildings while eliminating food and harbourage through good
housekeeping practices.
Design,
Maintenance and Proofing of Buildings
There are various ways that pest can
get access to the food premises where they may enter through open doors or
windows, through gaps or cavities in the structure of building or it may be
brought in with food, packaging material or may be even through humans or even
laundry. Thus, buildings must be designed and maintained to avoid undisturbed
areas within the premises which can provide harbourage for pests such as false
ceilings, boxing, ducting, ovens, and elevators where these areas need to be
designed with easy access for maintenance and treatment. Cavities in internal
walls or between surface finishes and walls must be eliminated or sealed, while
service pipes or conduits passing through walls should be cemented in position.
All structural damages which provide
access for pest must be repaired immediately and gaps around pipework must be
sealed. The defective drains should be repaired quickly while providing the
drains with appropriate covers. All the buildings should be adequately proofed
while controlling the access with self-closing doors with metal kick plates;
ventilation stacks should be provided with wire balloons and all ventilation
openings, including windows which are prone to pest infestations must be
adequately proofed to avoid pest infestations. If a pencil can pass through a
gap so can a young mouse. Air curtains are occasionally used to keep out of
flying insects. All sources of water, such as dripping taps, defective gutters,
and leaks should be attended and puddled removed.
Good
Housekeeping
The regular inspection of food
premises by a pest control contractor to ensure satisfactory environmental
control is important to minimize risk of infestations. Physical and chemical
control methods are necessary when environmental control mechanism are not
successful. In order to control pest infestations successfully you need to know
the species involved, the size and the location of the infestation and the
source of pests.
Physical
Control Methods
Physical control methods are usually preferred
as pest is caught, either dead or alive and consequently is not able to die in
some inaccessible place and the dead body will not contaminate the food,
whereas physical control methods can be used during food production. The usual
physical controls include but not limited to; baited or un-baited rodent traps,
electronic fly killers or insecticutors which use ultra violet (UV) light to
attract insects where insects are electrocuted on charged grid or glue board
caught. The catch tray or glue board should be cleaned frequently with records.
However, insecticutors should never be positioned above food or food equipment,
next to a window or near florescent bulbs as they emit UV light. Sticky
cockroach traps or pheromone traps for moth and wasps are useful for monitoring
the extent of infestations and to achieve success of chemical treatments. The
mist nets for birds should be placed while increased bird populations can be
controlled through bird scaring devices. Deliveries should be inspected to
ensure they are free of pest while especially inspecting dry good store
completely on regular basis and segregate infested stocks which need to be
immediately remove out of stores to secure place for disinfection or
destroy.
Chemical
Control Methods
Unfortunately, although the physical
control methods are suitable for occasional invaders they are not suitable for
dealing with major infestations, which have to be examined and destroyed as
quickly as possible. Rodenticides which are used to kill rodents are applied in
bait boxes which are usually produced as solid blocks or in paste formulations
to avoid problems of food contamination risk through spillages. The key to
effective chemical control is to identify the infested insect and then
determine which control method or combination of control methods are required based
on most vulnerable stage of its life cycle where knock-down and residual
insecticides with low toxicity can be applied to control the insect. Once
decided to apply chemicals, all food and equipment which are practically
possible should be removed from the premises and after the treatment; all the
work surfaces must be thoroughly cleaned and pests removed before any
processing commences. Particular care is necessary to avoid food contamination
through dead flies or if insecticides such as aerosol sprays are in use which
need to be avoided at any cost. Insecticides will not be broken down
immediately where traces may be active even after cooking where raw material or
any food contaminated with pesticide should be properly discarded.
A range of insecticides in the form
of dusts, baits, gels and sprays may be used to control most pests if care is
taken to avoid contamination of food materials. Most chemical treatments rely
on the insect walking over the formulation and ingesting or absorbing a lethal
dose. However, the continuous use of residual insecticides are not recommended
in food premises because of the risk of dead insects dropping in to food, but
they may be useful in non-food processing areas. Ant and wasp nets should be
located and destroyed by the pest control operator. Fumigation of product is
usually the best way to control infestations within commodities, although
severe infestations may require the controlled destruction of the infested
material because of contamination with dead bodies. Narcotizing of birds using
alphachloralose, which is a stupefying substance, may be successful as it can
be used to save any protected species by catching and releasing them, while
humanly catching and destroying the pest species. It is essential to undertake
chemical controls by a trained staff from the facility or local authorities or
a specialist contractor. The safety precautions must be taken to comply with
health and safety legislations. As soon as an infestation is discovered, immediate
advice must be obtained and a pest control contractor probably need to be
contacted immediately.
The
Use of a Pest Control Contractor
When selecting a pest control
contractor, apart from cost of the service, you should consider; the type of
pests you wish to control and the contractor’s competency in dealing with such
pests and the ability to provide 24 hour cover with an emergency call-out
service. Nonetheless, they also need to have suitably trained and discreet
staff with experience of the food industry pest controls who should also need
to provide adequate frequent visits. In addition, they need to provide list
chemicals, methods and materials are to be used with approved registration for
such professional works. The pest control contractor must provide a written
report specifying the condition of the facility, activities undertaken and
observations made or any additional advises on future activities. The
contractor needs to have an appropriate insurance cover for products, public
and employee liabilities. The employment of a contractor does not absolve the
company from overall responsibility for the conditions of premises and food.
However, it would most likely assist if a due-diligence was being relied upon.
A
Due-Diligence Defense
In order to demonstrate
due-diligence with regard to pest control; it will be necessary to demonstrate
the presence of an effective control system including documentation for the
absence of previous complaints with the pest control log book is accurately completed
and that all essential recommendations have been acted on. It is essential to
have a reputed pest control contractor conducting regular inspections for the
facility where staff are trained to recognize and report signs of pest
infestations. The deliveries are inspected for the presence of pest before
accepting to the premises and the premises are kept pest proof with all control
measures in place for all possible pest infestations where good housekeeping
and satisfactory maintenance is mandatory to prevent pest infestations.
The
Role of the Supervisor in Pest Control
Supervisor and their staff should be
able to recognize signs of pests and know the action required in the event of
an infestation or a compliant regarding contamination of a food product by
pests. The supervisor should contact their pest control contractor as soon as
an incident of pest is reported. The contractor should be accompanied
throughout the inspection while supervisor himself should record the position
of bait boxes and any recommendations regarding proofing, good housekeeping or
control should be carried out as quickly as possible.
Regular audits should be undertaken
to verify that the integrated pest management system is effective. The audits
should ensure that the deliveries are inspected for signs of pests and
contaminated deliveries are rejected. The premises are proofed against the
entry of pests and the housekeeping is satisfactory where there are no signs of
pest infestations. The rodent control book is up-to-date and all the
recommendations are operating effectively where bait box are in place and
untouched. The physical control methods are operating effectively, such as
electronic fly catcher which should be positioned as correctly while UV bulbs
are replaced annually and catch trays are emptied and disinfected
regularly.
Most
Common Pests Hosted Diseases
Rodents
and disease- Rats and mice, like other animals which
live in rubbish tips, drains, sewers and other unhygienic places, pick up
disease-causing germs from their environment. They then become carriers of
these germs and can spread dangerous diseases by entering the food premises or houses.
Six hundred years ago, roof rats and their fleas were responsible for spreading
the bacteria which caused bubonicplague (the Black Death) throughout Europe,
where twenty-five million people died due to the plague. Rats and mice may pass
disease-causing germs to humans in several ways, such as: carrying
disease-causing germs from sewers, drains and rubbish tips to food, kitchen
benches, storage areas and utensils depositing infected urine or faeces on food
utensils and depositing infected urine or faeces in places where people can
come in contact with it biting people passing the germs to household pets,
which then pass them on to humans.
Diseases in communities caused by
germs carried by rodents, such as bacterial diseases, leptospirosis, rat-bite
fever, and salmonellosis. In addition to being major pests, because they spread
disease, rats and mice also cause significant problems in other ways, where
they can destroy large amounts of stored grain in bulk stores and silos by
contaminating it with their urine and faeces with their habit of constantly
gnawing (chewing) causes much damage to doors, equipment, upholstery, books,
food and other packaging, wires, cables and pipes.
Flies
and disease - When flies land on things like food
scraps, manure, faeces or dead animals they pick up disease-carrying germs and
germs. The germs are carried on their hairy bodies and legs and in their
stomachs. When the flies land on things like food, equipment, machinery or cups,
knives and plates, the germs can be passed on to these articles. If people then
eat the food or use these articles when eating food, they will get the germs
into their bodies and may become sick.Flies feed by putting a special substance
from its stomach onto the food through its long, hollow, tube-shaped mouth.
This special type of mouth is called a proboscis. The special substance which
comes from the fly's stomach makes the food liquid and the fly then sucks this
up through its proboscis. Germs from the fly’s legs and body, and from the
liquid that comes from its stomach, get onto the food while it is eating. Some
of these germs will be left behind on the food after the fly has gone.
Cockroaches
and disease - Like rats or flies, cockroaches can
carry many disease-causing germs on and in their bodies. Because their natural
homes include rubbish, dirt and filth they readily pick up germs from these
areas. They then walk over food, cutlery, crockery and cooking equipment,
benches, tables and other places in the facility and pass the germs on to
people.
Common
Controls
Rodent
controls- All of the good hygiene practices listed
for other pests will also help to keep rodent numbers low. It is also possible
to design a building that makes it difficult for rats or mice to enter,
although as long as people have access to buildings, these rodents will often
also find a way to gain entry. Fly wire doors and window screens also help to
keep rodents out of houses. Other methods of controlling rats and mice are to
use traps and poison baits. Ensure that baits are placed well out of the reach
of children and pets, such as cats and dogs.
Fly
Controls - Probably the best method of fly control is to
make sure the flies have no place where they can breed. Some of the ways of
getting rid of breeding sites around the premises are; wrap all food scraps tightly,
make sure the rubbish bin has an undamaged, tight-fitting lid that stops flies
from getting in, empty the rubbish bin regularly (at least daily and more
frequently if there are many people working), make sure rubbish is disposed of
properly at the rubbish tip and covered regularly. Make sure the toilet is
clean and working properly and the toilet vent pipes are fly-proofed while
septic tanks and leach drains are not damaged and have proper sealed lids.
Remove dog and other animal faeces daily if possible and dispose of faeces and
dead animals to the rubbish tip as quickly as possible. The supervisor should
make regular checks around the premises to identify possible fly-breeding
places. If maggots are found they should be killed immediately and the breeding
site cleared of all organic material and after the incident, these places
should be inspected regularly.
Cockroach
Controls - All of the suggestions listed to control
flies will also help control cockroaches. However, there are other kinds of
actions which can be taken to keep cockroaches away from manufacturing areas,
such as keep food in containers which have tightly fitting lids, store food
handling equipment and containers up off the floor where possible, fill in
small cracks and crevices (holes), in which cockroaches could hide. It is
especially important to fill in cracks and crevices around pipes in walls, clean
shelves and inside and underneath cupboards regularly. This will reduce the
build-up of food particles when required, apply a low toxicity liquid or gel
insecticide to those areas where cockroaches may hide, especially cracks and
crevices inside and around the outside of buildings, behind stoves and fridges
and underneath the shelves of cupboards. There are many suitable insecticides that
can be used to effectively control cockroaches. Before insecticides are used, employees
should be encouraged to regularly clean in and around their houses to reduce
the cockroaches’ food source.
nice post
ReplyDelete