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from SOFHT focus 29 2000, By David Howroyd, Managing Director, Rentokil pest Control
During the past few years the demands from consumers to be better informed about the food they eat have increased significantly. There are very good reasons for this.
The BSE debacle (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in cattle), Salmonella in eggs, Listeria in chilled foods and the more recent spotlight on genetically modified foods, to name but a few.
Consumers are now even more concerned about the quality of their food and this concern includes the fear that pesticides or their residues may be present.
One can debate the rights and wrongs of how we arrived at this position, but the fact remains that these concerns are now very real and it may not be possible to reverse the general public's perception.
Rather than try to convince consumers their fears are unfounded, and according to some 'experts' they may indeed be so, it may in fact be more sensible to approach pest control in the food industry using a newer approach - non-toxic pest control - than the traditional methods of employing chemical pesticides such as methyl bromide to eradicate the problem.
Such alternative regimes have indeed been tried before, involving a more integrated approach to Total Factory Hygiene and there are a number of reports of companies such as organic food producers and flour mills attempting to move away from fumigation and reduce their reliance on contact pesticides.
Pest control companies are now developing control systems designed to reduce or remove completely the need for toxic materials whilst producing an effective and often long-term solution. Modern treatments include non-harmful bird deterrents and innovative detection techniques incorporating advanced electronics. At Rentokil these include:
Cats
 [opposite] The unique Controlled Atmosphere Technology (CAT) Bubble system which has been granted Millennium Product Status.
Unlike traditional fumigation methods, the CAT Bubble system uses either carbon dioxide or nitrogen to eradicate insect pests, including eggs and larvae, by reducing oxygen levels to such a minute level that all life stages are literally suffocated. The technology ensures no chemical reactions, which could affect foodstuffs occur.
Made from a gas tight aluminum laminate, the bubble system also provides reductions in transportation and time costs, as foodstuffs do not have to be removed from factories prior to treatment. Batches of considerable size can be handled using bespoke units capable of enclosing 60m3.
Mice
Mice infestation and food production go hand in hand. It is an age-old problem. The traditional solution for eradicating mice has been the selected use of strategically placed mousetraps or toxic chemical baits. Whilst, to a greater or lesser extent both methods are effective, they do have some drawbacks.
The use of chemicals in particular leaves much to be desired as results are not immediate, leaving mice free to damage and contaminate before the treatment becomes effective.
The consequences of mice consuming toxic chemicals, ultimately dying but perhaps remaining undetected on site, is also a less than ideal solution for food processing and manufacturing plants.
The 'Mouse Alert' system s based on trapping boxes placed strategically high-risk areas. Each box has trap doors triggered by infrared sensors when a mouse fully crosses the threshold. The box then transmits a radio signal to a control console installed at a focal point within the food factory.
The hygiene manager is informed that the system has been activated by means of an audio signal, together with an LED message displayed on the central console. A technician will unlock the central console and use coded data to identify where the mouse is trapped. It is then transferred into a special receptacle and removed from the site and humanely destroyed.
The technician will then record, using a keypad within the console, the entrapment time and date, and reset the system. Details are permanently recorded on a hard copy print out facility, providing powerful evidence that food processors and manufacturers are operating to legal hygiene standards.
Mouse Alert even responds to the presence of a single mouse, thereby complying with the legal obligations placed on food companies under official food safety guidelines.
Flies
Flies are a real hazard to health and to the food industry as a whole. Their feeding habits of regurgitating saliva onto a food surface to be able to suck the liquid up, means the bacteria from their gut is mixed with whatever they fed on previously.
As flies prefer to live, eat and breed on faeces, the results of their bacterial infection can be understood. Flies should not be tolerated in any premises, especially where food is being prepared, served or eaten!
Cleaning is essential to prevent the breeding of flies in decaying matter anywhere around or inside a food factory. Special attention should be paid to gullies, drains and refuse areas. Insect screens over opening windows and doors are also very effective at insect pest prevention. The mesh size should be small enough to prevent even the smallest insect entering and fit over the entire window.
As a final defence mechanism, ultraviolet electric fly killers are effective against all insect pests. They can be used as a monitor to gauge the level of the flying insect problem in food factories and help the decision on further measures to be taken.
The Rentokil Electronic Fly Killer uses a grid to electrocute insects that fly in towards a UV light. It also contains a rolling adhesive film that traps the insects and encapsulates them for up to six months at a time. A lure has been developed to attract flying insects to the unit to further improve its efficiency.
Birds
The bill for damage caused to property, health and profit by pest birds will, in this year alone, hit British business to the tune of several hundred million pounds.
Pigeons and gulls are the worst culprits. They mar the appearance of buildings, contaminate food, carry insects, transmit disease and represent a very real danger to industrial and aviation environments.
Both tend to build their nest in the most unfortunate locations - in downpipes and guttering - restricting water flow which results in flooding and seepage. Within any pest bird population, allowed to live on a building, there is a natural mortality rate, both of adults and young. Their dead bodies encourage other obnoxious pests like blowflies, cockroaches and rats.
However, pest birds are an avoidable risk. There are a range of effective measures which provide legal and humane solutions to this age-old problem, for example:
- Avistrand sprung wiring is an unobtrusive and long-lasting solution, preventing birds from perching and fouling the exterior of buildings.
- A clear plastic gel material acts as a repellent which when applied to stone or brickwork creates a surface that birds find difficult to perch upon.
- Sonic deterrence is the most advanced technique of bioacoustics. It is used to broadcast alarm and distress calls which can move complete flocks to less hazardous areas.
Rentokil Pest Control managing director, David Howroyd says effective bird control demonstrates its user's commitment to the very best standards of hygiene, health and safety and staff relations.
"Although pest birds are hazardous to pedestrian safety - they leave droppings on pavements, walkways, staircases and fire escapes - wherever possible we always seek the most humane solution to their control, preferring to encourage birds to move on elsewhere rather than cause unnecessary suffering by using a heavy handed approach.
"Culling will only be considered in conjunction with as much practical proofing against further pest bird problems as possible. In terms of population dynamics it has been proven that flock numbers can be reduced by as much as 80 per cent using modern control methods."
Legislation
The prevention of pests is covered under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, and to any food preparation areas by the Food Safety Act 1990, which was produced to meet the requirements of the EC Food Hygiene Directive (93/94/EEC).
It is vitally important that food manufacturers and processors ensure they maintain documentary evidence showing the steps they are taking to prevent any form of food contamination. This, of course, includes the possibility of pest infestations.
Pest prevention is the best method of providing this evidence. Regular monitoring, recording and reporting on the pest status within a food factory can prove that the management is taking all reasonable steps and could be used to show 'due diligence' in litigation proceedings.
It is very likely that any effective pest prevention system is best supplied and agreed with through a specialist pest control contractor.
Contractors should be members of the British Pest Control Association (BPCA), ensuring that they work to a Code of Practice and Conduct and have attained a satisfactory standard of competence and training to be able to supply all the nontoxic pest control and pest prevention services that the food industry requires.
The food industry needs to be aware that the presence of pests such as rodents, insects and birds, creates the very real risk of food contamination, as well as the possibility of disease transmission to personnel and damage to the structure and services of production premises.
It is vitally important that steps are taken to prevent pest problems arising and to ensure continual monitoring is in place.
This guarantees that if a problem does arise it remains a problem and does not become a crisis.
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