Restaurant owners in Katy, TX are all too familiar with the dangers that pest infestation can cause in the food industry. But how can you prevent your restaurant from falling victim to this serious issue? Here are some restaurant pest control tips that you can employ in your business.
How to Stop Pests From Taking Over Your Restaurant
Steps to Reduce the Risk of Pest Infestation
Taking proactive steps to limit the risk of pest infestation in your restaurant is always a good idea. Here are some strategies you can employ to mitigate the danger pests pose to your business.
Seal Cracks and Other Small Openings
Even the smallest crack in a wall or floor of your restaurant can let pests in. And as you likely know, once pests get into any given area, they begin to spread like wildfire. Managing these breaches in the perimeter of your restaurant is one crucial step you can take to reduce the risk that pests pose to your restaurant.
Take the time to assess areas all around your restaurant, paying special attention to any cracks that lead to external areas or other places where pests might enter from. Use a caulking gun to seal up any small openings that you find in your search. Ensuring that your staff knows to keep external doors closed at all times is another way that you can limit pests entering your property and spreading.
Keep Drains Cleaned and Well-Maintained
Many pests thrive in dark, moist conditions where you might not be able to always see them. One environment that provides all of these conditions for pests is in the drains throughout your restaurant. That makes properly maintaining your drains one of the most important steps you can take to protect your restaurant from a pest infestation.
Routine deep-cleanings for all of your drains is essential for the cleanliness of your restaurant. Remove all the organic slime that can build up in the crevices of these drains, as this provides the ideal nutrients for flies and other common pests. Pay special attention to drains that have P-traps underneath, as these traps can often be places where the refuse that pests need builds up.
Practice Good Trash Disposal Strategies
The garbage produced by your restaurant is one of the biggest attractors of pests that you need to deal with. Because restaurants obviously produce plenty of food waste, there is plenty of food in your trash for pests to feed on or plant their eggs in. That makes dealing with this trash in the correct way that minimizes the conditions that pests need to thrive an imperative for any restaurant.
Keep trash areas neat and tidy, and ensure that any trash that ends up in your dumpsters is placed into a bag and sealed first. Those dumpsters should be cleaned or replaced monthly to ensure they don’t become hotbeds for pests to flourish in. The pads that dumpsters rest upon should also be washed monthly to remove any refuse build-up that can attract insects, rodents, and other pests.
Restaurant Pest Control Methods
There are a few different strategies that can be implemented to manage the spread of pests. However, it’s important to note that these steps do little on their own; they need to be components of a larger pest control strategy. Working with a professional can help you implement these strategies safely and effectively.
Interior and Exterior Traps
Traps are one of the simpler methods of pest control that can be employed. While pest traps come in a range of designs, the concept behind them all is to lure pests in and prevent them from escaping and continuing to spread.
Traps can be placed throughout the interior and exterior of your restaurant for maximum effectiveness. Figuring out the hotspots where pest traffic is high and placing traps there is an essential strategy. Consult with a pest control professional to develop such a plan.
Pesticides
Chemicals can also be used to limit the spread of pests. While some of these pesticides target individual pests, many are designed to be carried back to the pest’s nest, providing more widespread and thorough results.
It’s important that pesticides are used safely. The risk of using these chemicals is even greater in a restaurant where people are eating. Consulting with a professional before using any pesticides in your restaurant is imperative.
Dangers That Pests Pose
There are a number of reasons that implementing good pest control practices in your restaurant is vital. Here are some of the dangers that you incur if you don’t sufficiently control pests in your restaurant.
Disease Vectors and Other Health Issues
The presence of pests in your restaurant creates a number of health risks. Pests themselves, such as flies and other insects, can be vectors for disease, contaminating the food they eat or spreading disease themselves when they land on people in your restaurant. The waste that pests leave behind can also create the conditions necessary for bacteria to flourish, creating further health risks.
Concern for the well-being of your employees and guests isn’t the only reason you should be mindful of these health risks. Federal and local laws require certain standards of cleanliness to be met for a restaurant to operate. Failing to meet these standards could lead to hefty fines, enforced closures of your restaurant, and other penalties that are far costlier than pest control.
Lost Product and Materials
Any restaurant requires ample amounts of food to be stored on the premises in order to meet the demands of their customers. However, these food products are also attractive to all kinds of pests who are also seeking food for themselves. If any food you have stored in your restaurant becomes ridden with pests, it is likely that it will need to be disposed of, harming your restaurant’s financial situation.
While lost food product is the most obvious risk of pests in your restaurant, there are other key materials for your restaurant that could be ruined by pests. Any tools or appliances that become contaminated by rodent droppings, for example, will need to be thoroughly cleaned or, in some cases, replaced altogether. Avoid these unnecessary expenses by staying ahead of any pest problems in your restaurant.
Risk of Structural Damage
While many pests are more of a risk to the food product in your restaurant, there are certain pests that also pose a danger to your restaurant itself. Carpenter ants, termites, and other wood-boring insects can damage the frame of a building and render the structure unsafe for habitation.
In some cases, the structural damage caused by pests can lead to expensive repairs that wouldn’t otherwise need to be carried out. In the worst-case scenario, however, the damage can be even more severe than that. The structural integrity of your building as a whole may be compromised, requiring extensive work to even be habitable again and causing a serious interruption in your business.
Get Quality Pest Control in Katy, TX
While you can take steps to reduce the prevalence of pests in your restaurant is important, serious pest problems require professional intervention. The integrated approach that effective pest control requires careful planning and expertise that most people don’t have. Leaving your pest control needs to the professionals takes the problem out of your hands so that you can focus on what you do best: running your restaurant.
Our professionals are standing by to help you address any pest control needs in your restaurant. Contact Life After Bugs and let us help you keep your business pest-free!
