The Most Common Food Retail Pests

As a business owner in the food industry, you know how hazardous a pest problem can be. Pests can contaminate food, spread disease, and seriously harm your reputation. To keep your business on track, it’s important to protect your business, employees, and customers from the dangers that pests bring to the table.

At Batzner Pest Control, The first step in protecting your business is identifying potential pest threats and the conditions that attract them. Local inspectors don’t just look for active infestations; they also look for gaps in your defenses. We’ve compiled the top 10 pest categories that impact food businesses in Wisconsin to share with you, offering key information so that you’re always prepared.

Top 10 Pest Categories

Food retail facilities face a myriad of pest issues throughout the year, but the top 10 pest categories encountered are:

• Rodents (mice and rats)
• Large flies (house flies, blow flies, etc)
• Small flies (fruit flies, drain flies, etc)
• Night-flying insects
• Occasional invaders
• Spiders
• Ants
• Cockroaches
• Stored product pests (meal moths, clothes moths, etc)
• Overwintering pests

Rodents and flies account for over 30% of pest control services apiece. This means that a strong defense against these pests is the best place to start.

How Pests Harm Your Business

First of all, pests like roaches, rodents, and flies are known to carry pathogens like E. coli and salmonella. If a carrier pest comes in contact with your food stores, it can transfer the bacteria on its body to the food, which can make people sick. This is a significant public health concern, so even a single pest sighting could lead to product recalls, failed inspections, and even a business shutdown – not to mention irreparable damage to your reputation.

Even pests that don’t carry disease, such as meal moths and other “pantry pests,” can damage your inventory and cut into your profits. As you can see, it’s important to take proactive measures to mitigate your chances of developing a pest problem in the first place.

Pest Prevention Methods

Pests of any kind are extremely hard to remove once they’ve established a presence on your property. That’s why the most powerful tool in your arsenal is pest prevention. The process of pest exclusion refers to measures taken to prevent pests from entering your property using physical barriers and other treatments. A few examples include:

• Seal doors and windows. Rodents can squeeze through any gap big enough for their heads to fit through, so it’s important to make sure there are no openings in your exterior. Install door sweeps and astragal seals to ensure there aren’t any gaps when doors are closed.
• Keep doors closed when not in use. This includes entrances and exits as well as dock doors and loading area doors.
• Carefully inspect incoming shipments. Plenty of pests of all shapes and sizes can hitch rides on incoming inventory. Make sure to inspect your shipments thoroughly before unloading to ensure they can’t spread to your facility.
• Promptly clean up after spills. In the food service industry, food spills are common – and they’re a great food source for pests. Cleaning up even the smallest spills promptly will help prevent attracting them.
• Seal up all exterior cracks. Commonly overlooked places to seal include around vents, pipes, wiring, and other places where your exterior may have gaps visible.

Challenges of Keeping Your Business Pest-Free

It can be difficult to keep pests out of your business while maintaining a welcoming environment for your customers. In a restaurant or other food service establishment, atmosphere is a vital part of the experience you provide your customers. That’s why the Batzner Pest Control team always acts with discretion and efficiency; with us on your team, pests will be the furthest thing from your mind.

Count on Batzner Pest Control to Protect Your Food Business From Pests

Keeping your food industry business safe from the dangers of pests can be difficult. That’s why the Batzner Pest Control team is here to help every step of the way. Whether you have a pest problem that you need to deal with discreetly and quickly, or you’d like to shore up your defenses to get ready for the next potential threat, we’re ready to put over 75 years of experience to work for you.

Give us a call to get started with a free quote.