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What You Need To Know About Food Safety And Pests
1/7/14
Pests in your home or commercial business are not just a nuisance; they can create very unsanitary conditions in your kitchen and food prep areas. Having pests like mice, pantry pests, cockroaches, ants, and others invading your kitchen can lead to the contamination of your food, and the spreading of bacteria and diseases to you, your family, your employees, and customers. Luckily as a home or business owner there are ways, along with getting help from a professional pest control expert, which you can help prevent pest infestations from occurring in and around your food.
Often, before pests make it into your home or business they have been crawling through less than sanitary places; places like sewers, feces, and garbage dumps. Once inside your home or business, they will spread their bacterial diseases, parasitic worms and their urine and feces throughout your food, kitchen utensils, kitchen cabinets and counters, causing major sanitation issues. Pests are also a threat to your food safety as they forage for food in your home or business, chew through boxes and bags to get to the food, breed within your food and contaminate it with bacteria from their urine and feces. Having pests in your commercial facility will not only cause issues with food safety and sanitation, they will damage your inventory and your reputation which will end up costing you a lot of money and customers in the end.
Protecting your home or business from pests is important for the health and safety of many people. Pest prevention tips to stop pest infestations in and around food include:
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Storing dry goods in glass or plastic containers with a tight fitting lid instead of the boxes or bags they were purchased in.
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Check deliveries of food or purchases from the grocery store for holes or rips in packaging as this could be a sign that that product has already been infested with pests like pantry pests.
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Regularly rotate your food inventory, sticking to the standard of first in, first out.
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Do not keep produce and other food out on kitchen counter; instead keep those items in the refrigerator.
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Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink for long periods of time; this will attract pests to your kitchen areas much more quickly.
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Caulk openings around windows and doors, and seal cracks along your home or business’s foundation to prevent pests like mice, ants and others from being able to enter into your building.
Even if you have taken all the necessary precautions, pests may still be able to enter your home or commercial facility. Having a professional routinely inspect your property will help to prevent problems with pests by catching them before they have much of a chance. In addition, if a pest problem is identified, a pest control professional will be able to effectively treat those areas.
For more information about pest control in the Pittsburgh area, including pest control safe for kitchens in both homes and businesses, contact Witt Pest Management today!