Where to check for pests in your restaurant
Posted on: 8 July 2015
You may think you've been keeping your restaurant spotlessly clean and will never have an infestation - but pests like cockroaches, rats and flies can still flourish in overlooked or hard-to-reach areas. Remember, a single rat can get a whole business closed down, so it's vital that any infestation is stopped well before it gets underway. If you have the slightest suspicion that pests are entering your restaurant, here's where to look first.
In the gaps between equipment
A good kitchen shouldn't have spaces between ovens and worktops, or between fridges and dishwashers, or ideally between anything. Tiny spaces are hard to clean, and so food that falls down there just gets left there — for the pests. A good kitchen worker should clean up all spillages as soon as they happen, but that's no good if the spill is in an area that just can't be reached by the cleaning equipment. Make sure your kitchen is free of gaps, and the pests will have no small spaces to find food in.
In the dumpsters and dustbins
Pests love dark, smelly places like dumpsters. Therefore, it's vital that they get cleaned as much as possible, as unpleasant a job as that sounds. Hire a good cleaning company to properly clean all waste collection areas and make them a less hospitable place for pests.
In bags of flour
Many restaurants have stored their large bags away but forgotten to check they were properly sealed — and suffered the ramifications later. Weevils love flour, and although they're not poisonous, they're still downright disgusting. If you open a bag of flour and find weevils in there, throw it away immediately, clean the room thoroughly and make sure that all flour is stored in an airtight container from then on.
In rat traps
People think they're being diligent by setting up rat traps around their restaurant. But rat traps are no use if the rat inside isn't disposed of quickly! Once it dies, it will attract more pests eager to feed on it. To prevent turning your rat problem into an all-over pest problem, make sure traps are checked as often as possible and the animal inside removed. Understandably, many people don't like doing this, so you should hire a pest control service to make sure it's done properly.
In the cleaning equipment itself
Ironically, some insects really like the warm fibres found inside mops. This means that every time a floor is cleaned with the infested mop, the problem just gets worse! To avoid this happening, replace mops as often as possible, and hang them up to dry instead of leaving them in their buckets overnight. Make sure the whole cleaning equipment cupboard is cleaned out regularly too — pests can get into them as easily as they can get into any other room.
Remember, if you have any trouble, call a pest control company like Promaster Group so they can handle the current issue and give you detailed advice about how to avoid any infestations in the future.
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