ehs bbrg pest prevention presentation

George E. Williams Jr., A.C.E.

General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Environmental Health Services, Inc. - www.ehspest.com

Pest management in food handling facilities

• Mice• Rats

– Norway Species (northeast)– Roof Species (southeast – west coast)

• Cockroaches– German Species– American Species

• Flying Insects– Small Fly Species (Fruit, Phorid, & Drain/Moth Flies)– Filth Fly Species (House, Flesh, & Bottle Flies)

• Stored Product Pests


Common Pests of Food Handling Facilities Common Pests of Food Handling Facilities


EHS BBRG Involvement = Success!


• There is no magic wand with pest control service.• The most successful pest control programs involve a

team approach. The puzzle pieces MUST fit together!• A cooperative effort between EHS & BBRG creates a

mutually beneficial relationship.• It is vital to respond to advice/suggestions/reports

from a highly trained expert (EHS). – Think of it like a doctor, they are prescribing remedies to cure a

problem you have. If you follow their advice you get better, if you ignore them still have an issue.

– Also, waiting until an “illness” is severe is never a good practice because at this point the cure is daunting & expensive.


• Pests are a serious threat to health, property, and your

reputation.

• Not doing what needs to be done is just gambling with the odds stacked against you!

• “I’m paying you to control the pests, just fix the problem” is old school thinking dating back to the “spray & fog” era. – Just Google the relationship between sanitation & pests

– Proven scientific data exists that shows sanitation is the best measure to minimize pest pressure

– University studies have proven poor sanitation accelerates pest activity while diminishing pest control measures

• To successfully minimize exposure it takes action by BOTH BBRG AND EHS!

True Goal of Pest Control = Minimize Risk & True Goal of Pest Control = Minimize Risk & ExposureExposure


FACTS

COCKROACHES can go without food for 42 days but can only go without water for 12 days.

MICE can go without water for 42 days but need 1-2grams of food per day.

RATS must have water daily (2oz) but can go without food for 14 days

FOOD

WATER

SHELTER

Pests (Like all animals humans included) Need,…..

If food-water-shelter are in abundance then pests will thrive!

• WHY don’t you have pests in your home?WHY don’t you have pests in your home?– Sanitation is typically way above average.– Repairs are often made to fix problems.– You exclude any openings to your home.– You remove (clean) a food source if a pest is found.– You listen to what the expert tells you to do about

why you have the problem.

In restaurants the employees do not understand the importance of sanitation & how it relates to pests.

Managers have 101 things on their plate so follow through + constant training is often difficult in this area. It becomes a

priority when there is an issue



WHAT Can I As BBRG Do??? Part I

THREE STEPS:

1) Do Not Leave Food Out Overnight!


WHAT Can I As BBRG Do??? Part II

THREE STEPS continued:

2) Clean, clean, & clean some more

- Mops & brooms don’t bend. Get under equipment!

3) Remove as much moisture as possible

- Standing water destroys your facility substrate & pests love it!


Micro-Environments = Sizable Fly Populations!!!

• 3ea Corona bottles + lime + some backwash.

• Found resting on electrical cables under a bar, behind a cooler, about 2ft off the floor.

• Needless to say these bottles were almost impossible to find.

• Each bottle contained thousands of fly larva (maggots)

• Bottles removed, fly problem resolved!


More Micro-Environments…… TONS of

flies! WHY???

Let’s see what’s under the floor


It is RARELY the visible areas!

Maggots become flies!


Sometimes it is a MAJOR undertaking!

The picture was taken with a digital camera snake. It is beneath a slab under a commercial kitchen in a hospital. The gap shown ranged from

¼” to 3” high. Millions of Phorid Fly larva& pupa are shown here. Cause? Broken water line.

How important is sanitation?

BAD

Sanitation

GOOD

Sanitation


GOOD

Sanitation

BAD

Sanitation

IMPORTANT

Good sanitation = no emergency callsor service, it can be handled on EHS’snext scheduled service visit.

3-7 3-7 DaysDays


Small Fly Breeding SitesSoda dispenser drain tubes are one of the most attractive

known breeding sites.


Soda dispenser drain tubes can collect massive amounts of gelatinous buildup.

Not only is good for breeding but is also one of the most horrendous sources of foul odors.

Fly Pupa (eggs)Fly Pupa

(eggs)


Air Gap Drains Are A Major Small Fly Breeding Site!

How many drains do you see? Most people say two. There are actually 11 drains! Dark-Eyed Fruit Flies + Phorid Flies prefer to fly up & into these tubes & pipes (air-gap drains) to breed.

They are a MAJOR infestation point!


These waist-chest high “drains” feed into floor drains by the air-gap hoses & pipes. They are rarely cleaned & are a

common fly breeding area.

Look at

the gunk!


A major Micro-Environment for small flies!

Moisture is on the floor in every restaurant facility. Have you ever looked VERY CLOSELY at floor grout? EHS

has! More to follow, this is the 1st of three pictures….



2nd close-up pictures. Starting to see

something?

Newly emerging Phorid Fly

3rd close-up picture. What you see is a true micro-

environment. The perfect breeding site for small

flies!.You can also see the bacterial & mold buildup.

What you can’t see DOES hurt you!

Water is the enemy!!!• Water is a KEY element in pest activity. Excessive H2O

allows all pest populations to thrive

• H2O renders insecticides ineffective for roaches, flies and other pests.

• H2O causes baits to mold & become unpalatable (roaches, rodents, flies).

• Rodent control devices are destroyed needing to be replaced at the expense of the facility.

• Without H2O pests can not successfully breed.

• Excessive H2O creates significant deep (out of sight) harborages for all pests.

• Eliminate and/or reduce H2O & you will DRAMATICALLY improve pest control measures. Use floor fans (on timers) at closing Vs leaving standing water on the floors overnight.


Lighting & Pest Pressure• Research: 25 flies in a room, one

regular light bulb, one yellow light bulb (sodium vapor)

• Results: 24 flies went to the common light bulb while 1 went to the yellow bug light bulb.

• All exterior lights around entrance doors should be sodium vapor bulbs.

• This will reduce the fly & insect pressure on (into) the facility.


Do you have positive or negative air

pressure?Negative pressure causes pests to be

vacuumed into your facility

every time a door is opened.


HVAC & Pests

• Fast! Run 12ft Per Second. • Long Jump 2ft or Drop 50ft.• Found In -14 Degree

Temperatures (very adaptable).• Only need 1/4” To Gain Access.• Strong Hearing (30x Better Than

Humans), Poor Vision (4ft) But Pick Up Motion 50+ft Away, Excellent Touch, Smell & Taste.

• A 6th Sense or Kinesthetic Sense, programmed muscle memory behavior.

• Will go 1 story up to access structures.

• Create void colonies when sanitation is poor, spending their entire life in a 5ft radius.

• Swimmers! Can Swim 1/2 Mile & Tread Water For Three Days.

• 3ft Long Jump & Can Survive a 50ft Drop.

• Very Strong & Agile Climbers.• Need 1/2” Opening To Gain Access.• Poor vision, average hearing.• Wants to get in…CAN get in!• Neophobic (shy of new objects) so they

often avoid control devices. • Can easily become “trap shy” if they

survive near misses.• Will relocate & adapt to any environment.

Rodents Are One Formidable Foe!


• Rodents have a highly developed learning behavior that is passed on from generation to generation. If they are feeding on food waste then they pass this feeding preference on.

• Once a preferred feeding trait has been established, it may take weeks-months-never to gain rodenticide + trap acceptance.

• 10-30ft range (mice) is common under normal circumstances.• If competitive food availability is high & sanitation is poor then the

range is less than 5ft! – Deep void harborages occur making control difficult.

• Rodents have a highly developed learning behavior that is passed on from generation to generation. If they are feeding on food waste then they pass this feeding preference on. – They will ignore pest control devices

• Water & grease on floors means rodents have the ability to not get caught on glue traps due to coating on paws/fur.

– Also causes devices become weathered & unattractive

Rodents & SanitationRodents & Sanitation


Rats can apply 8,000 pounds of pressure

per square inch with their teethMATERIAL HARDNESS INDEX

Rat Tooth Enamel 5.5

Iron 4.0 Copper 2.5 - 3.0

Aluminum 2.0

Void Nests: Created when abundant food supply is

nearby.

• Great biotic potential, egg to adult development in 40-125 days with 30-40 eggs per ootheca (egg capsule)

– 40 days = poor sanitation, 125 days = good sanitation

– Poor sanitation = higher number + survival rate of nymphs (baby roaches) produced.

• Stays VERY close to water.• Research (Bayer Environmental Sciences) shows that behavioral aversion or

aberrant feeding occurs with poor sanitation.– Roaches avoid insecticide bait gels

– Behavior trait is passed on within infestation

– Populations grow as there is minimal acceptance to baits

• Sanitation & Cultural Practice Consequences:– Accelerated reproduction, provides ample harborage sites, plenty of alternative food sources

cause bait rejection, moisture -debris will diminish any pesticide residual & cause bait molding, glue trap monitors will be rendered useless, access to main areas will be hindered or prohibited. This results in sighting complaints in between pest control service visits.

Cockroaches & SanitationCockroaches & Sanitation


• Several stored product pests are common in food handling facilities.

– Species are going to be beetle & moths in the adult stage. The developmental stages will be larva (AKA maggots) and pupae (AKA cocoons).

• All received goods should be inspected for insects and/or damage. If infested then the supplying vendor needs to be notified.

• All stored goods need to be rotated to prevent infestation.

• All food spillage needs to be thoroughly cleaned up.

• Pest treatments can not by law be applied to food items therefore the only control measure is to locate the source & discard it.

Stored Product PestsStored Product Pests


ehs bbrg pest prevention presentation

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