Managing pests in a restaurant is a feat in and of itself. But if you know what exactly is causing your pest problem, getting rid of these critters will be much easier.
Pests can have devastating effects on your business. For one, pests can cause food contamination and unpleasant health effects for both customers and employees. When these problems are ignored, your restaurant’s reputation is at stake–or worse, you can get a failed rating from the health inspector, which is something that can be extremely difficult to recover from.
The best way to avoid pest infestation is to prevent your restaurant from attracting pests in the first place. Here are the things that might be attracting pests into your business:
1. Moisture
Commercial fumigation services in London, for example, get rid of all sorts of insects, such as mosquitoes, cockroaches, ants, flies, and months, among many others. If you want to prevent these insects from creeping into your restaurant, the best proactive step is to get rid of the thing that attracts them: moisture.
To prevent excess moisture from attracting pests into your restaurant, always make sure there are no leaks in and around the establishment (e.g. leaky pipes, air conditioner leak, standing water). Instruct employees to dry all surfaces before closing up the restaurant. Moreover, fix the humidity problems in your restaurant if the environment is too damp.
2. Food residue
Perhaps the most common thing that attracts pests is food, including grease, charred remains, and even other dead pests. Needless to say, the best way to prevent food from attracting pests, and, in turn, prevent pests from contaminating it–is to store food properly. Proper food storage involves keeping food in thick, tight-sealed containers and storing them in clean, dry areas. At the same time, discarded food should be thrown out promptly in well-sealed bags.
However, a restaurant kitchen is notorious for having food residue almost everywhere, especially in nooks and crannies. Thus, it is just as important to clean food remains from surfaces, corners, equipment, and any other area where food may end up in.
3. Garbage
Pests love trash, especially if there is a lot of food residue in there. For this reason, restaurant owners can significantly decrease the risk of having pests inside their business by keeping trash contained in closed bins with no overspilling whatsoever. If the restaurant has a dumpster, these vessels should remain closed at all times and cleaned regularly to prevent pests like rats and flies from making it their home.
4. Paper and cardboard
Many business owners fail to realize that piles of paper and cardboard can also attract pests into their establishment. If your office is riddled with multiple piles of paper and boxes that you rarely move, they can attract nasty insects such as roaches and silverfish. Hence, it’s a good idea to throw out any unnecessary paper and store cardboard boxes properly–or put them in the recycling bin altogether.
Needless to say, there are dozens of things that can draw pests into an establishment, more so if it’s a restaurant. And if you are a restaurant owner, the best way you can prevent pests in your business is by knowing what attracts them in the first place and then taking necessary steps to minimize these attractants as much as possible.
These are the most common things that draw pests into a restaurant. However, if there is already a presence of pests in your establishment, call a pest control service immediately.
