From time to time, homeowners will find some signs of pests in their houses. Ants and flies are widespread and can be eliminated often without too much bother. But, for business owners, finding pests can equal disaster.
Restaurants have to face health inspections in many countries, and these grades are then displayed clearly for consumers to see. A poor inspection can lead to a loss of trade, and in some cases temporary closure.
Manufacturing facilities may have to stop production if pests are discovered. This can also lead to contaminated food or other goods being destroyed with significant financial loss.
What action should you take if you discover signs of pests?
While homeowners can often use some off-the-shelf products to remove a pest problem, many businesses require a more serious approach.
Normally, when a business discovers rodents or any form of infestation, calling a pest control company is the best and only option. Businesses need to fix pest problems quickly, especially if food is involved.
Some pests represent a minor hindrance to certain businesses, while to others they can mean a loss of reputation, reduced cash flow, and indeed, closure. Many restaurants that have been temporarily closed after a failed food inspection never re-established themselves and ultimately had to close.
Urgency is key when discovering any sign of pests, as what could start as simply a small problem can quickly turn into an out-of-control infestation.
What are the worst pests you could discover?
No one wants to see any sign of pests in their business or home for that matter, but it’s becoming increasingly common. As the climate changes continue and pests become immune to certain pesticides, their populations are growing. A loss of habitat and available food and water also forces rodents and other pests to move closer to humans.
Below are some of the worst pests you could discover living in your business.
Most annoying pest
There are many ways to attract customers to your hotel, but having bed bugs isn’t one of them.
Unfortunately, due to their incredible ability to hitch a ride in tourists’ baggage, bed bugs spread quickly from hotel to hotel to someone’s home. These pests don’t care how clean your business is, and they aren’t interested in any food lying around so prevention is difficult.
Once bed bugs settle in they spread quickly, and while they don’t spread any diseases they can leave guests with itchy red welts from their bites.
Most difficult to remove pest
Bed bugs are in the top three most difficult pests to remove, but business owners are less likely to spot bed bugs than cockroaches. These pests breed quickly and are a nightmare for takeaway venues, restaurants, and any business that produces goods that could be contaminated.
It is crucial to know how to clean a restaurant for a food inspection. Having any sign of cockroaches can lead to enforced closure and loss of revenue. Many restaurants operate on tight margins, and this can be enough to see them fail quickly.
Cockroaches are very hard to remove and can hide in many different areas. They are found in drains, and inside walls, and even after eliminating them, they can return if preventative measures are not put into place.
Most dangerous pest
Bed bugs aren’t dangerous but can be stubborn to remove, but cockroaches can carry diseases including salmonella. In some areas of the world, there are highly dangerous insects such as mosquitoes that carry dengue or malaria. But in a workplace that involves food, rodents pose the most serious health threat.
Rats can carry numerous diseases, including tularemia, hantavirus, leptospirosis, salmonella, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis, or LCMV.
Salmonella causes 1.35 million infections a year in the US alone. The disease sees 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 fatalities in America each year.
Most destructive pest
Rodents are well known for chewing through cables and even walls. But, one other pest can hold the crown for being the most destructive. Any business owner who has premises made of wood can be happy that they don’t have termites in the building.
Around 600,000 homes get damaged by termites every year in each of the states in America, except Alaska. This results in $5 billion being spent each year by Americans to control the problem and repair the damage caused.
Unlike the other pests in this article, termites take their time to grow a colony big enough to cause damage. It takes 5 years for a colony to grow big enough to invade a building. But once they do, they can cause serious structural damage.
Summary
All of these pests are problematic in their own way. The one thing they all have in common is that they can be extremely hard to remove. Tolerance to pesticides has led to cockroaches in some regions being resistant to normal pest control treatments. Rats breed quickly, and bed bug colonies can start from just one pregnant female.
Businesses need to employ strong pest prevention methods as well as use exterminators when problems are discovered. Control and prevention are certainly necessary for any food manufacturing business or anywhere serving food or drinks to consumers.