The Importance Of Quality Pest Control In The Food Business

Quality pest control is a must in food businesses such as catering, food production, food retail, and food preparation, whether they are operating within business establishments or from home.

The Problem With Pests

Pests are attracted to food premises because they offer shelter and food source. Once pests get into your establishment, they can contaminate your food, cause damage to your building, furnishings and furniture, and also cause diseases. Common pests such as cockroaches, mice and rats can carry viruses and bacteria that can contaminate food and the surfaces that food get into contact with.

A pest infestation can put your product including your business' reputation at risk; if your customers know you have pest problems they won't patronize your business and you may lose trade. Therefore, it is important that you do all you can to prevent pests from getting into your establishment.

The Solutions

Take action. You should do all your best in preventing pests from getting into your premises instead of waiting for the pest to get in before you take action. To save money and make your pest prevention more effective, you should start your pest management outside your building; remove the things that can attract them; and regularly check your premises for signs of pests.

Hire pest controllers. It is best to arrange for a pest control contract with a company or contractor that offer a range of services. Your chosen company should be registered with a recognized pest control association or trade body. Your contractor should be able to tell you about the potential problems, carry out work then check and report the results.

Pest control is not only about putting poisons in place; if your pest problem requires such action, you should leave the handling of poisons to the professionals.

Look after your business premises. The building, layout and design of your food premises should help in preventing contamination by pests. You should at all times keep your building and surroundings clean and tidy. Fix dripping faucets and keep unused equipment and materials liked stored wood metal and garden waste away from the building. Keep food in pest-proof containers off the floor when putting them in the storeroom.

Waste management. Keep your waste bins away from the outside wall of your building and you should have enough storage space to put all waste on a closed fitted cover.

Your staff should be aware of the signs of pests within the business premises. You should immediately contact a pest control contractor if you find a problem so that they can deal with it at once.

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How To Clean Safely To Protect Your Food Business

Creating and sticking to an efficient cleaning schedule is important for any food business, not just because it makes the process of maintaining food hygiene standards easier, but because it also acts as a written record for the dreaded Environmental Health Officer (EHO) inspections. However, allocating tasks and completing them is only half the battle. It is vital that business owners make sure that every task is carried out regularly enough and most importantly, that it is done properly and safely.

Our Top 10 Safety Tips when Cleaning

1. Before you start cleaning, make sure that food is safely stored out of the way and cannot be contaminated
2. If you are cleaning a refrigerator, cold room or freezer, ensure that the food is kept at a safe temperature outside the danger zone
3. Switch off and isolate electrical equipment, such as slicers, refrigerators, vending machines, processing machines with dry hands before you start to clean
4. Ensure that you know how to use a cleaning chemical safely and always follow the manufacturer's instructions
5. Do not leave items to soak in disinfectant for longer than the manufacturer's recommended contact time because bacteria may become resistant to the chemicals. Never leave them to soak overnight
6. Wear protective clothing, such as rubber gloves and goggles, appropriate to the job
7. Never mix chemicals together, they could explode, cause toxic fumes or burn your skin
8. Work through the stages of cleaning in a way that does not spread dust or dirt, avoid being distracted in a way that puts you, other people or food at risk
9. Clean and disinfect mops and cloths soon after use and leave them to dry in the air
10. Always store chemicals, cleaning equipment away from food and only store chemicals in the original labelled containers designed for that purpose

It is important to remember that bacteria can be present on food that arrives at your business and if this is the case, these bacteria will remain present while the food is in storage. It is therefore essential that workspaces are as clean as possible to minimise the chance of such bacteria spreading. Keeping staff up to date with information and informing them of the risks and situations in which bacteria can multiply will give your business the best chance of maintaining a sufficiently hygienic and safe environment.

Cleaning should be considered as part of the job role for anyone who handles food, even in the smallest capacity. Because of this, all staff should be suitably trained for any cleaning tasks they will be expected to carry out so that they know exactly how to go about the process in a safe and reliable manner. As a business owner, if you are depending on your staff to carry out the necessary hygiene maintenance to run an effective food business, you need to be certain that each team member can be trusted to do things properly.

Cleaning should never be an afterthought in any food business and it should be given prominence within the daily routine. A slap dash wipe over surfaces does not mean that they are safe to work on and it won't be considered as a genuine attempt to uphold Food Hygiene Legislation by any EHO

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