Food Protection Connection: Focus on Flies

(reprinted from Dietary Manager, October 2002)

If you are bugged by flies in your operation, it may be time to review your pest management practices. Controlling flies, cockroaches, ants, birds, rodents, and other pests is a critical component of food safety. Why? Any of these pests can spread foodborne illness. Flies actually eat garbage... need we say more?

While plenty of issues vie for a manager's attention each day, here's one more where vigilance can make all the difference. Pest control experts say the first key to managing pests is to notice them, before the problem gets out of hand. Of course, you don't want to take on this job all by yourself. Enlist the help of your entire staff. You can even add checking for pests into many of your checklists and job routines. For example, it can be part of a receiving checklist or a cleaning routine.

Fast Breeders

Because flies breed very quickly, your rapid response can help tackle problems before they grow. An average housefly can hatch and reach maturity in less than a week. In addition, a single fly may lay 900 eggs at a time. Some flies take harbor in your operation and continue to breed indoors. For instance, fruit flies and fungus gnats thrive inside. While fungus gnats qualify more as a nuisance pest than a source of illness, fruit flies and their larvae do carry pathogens. And, they breed quickly. From egg to adult can be as little as eight days.

Taking Action

Pest experts say the best thing you can do to manage any pest problem is to prevent it in the first place. Some refer to this as exclusion, meaning you simply don't let pests enter your department. Some of the practices that support exclusion are:

• Maintain screens on all openings, such as windows and vents.
• Caulk any possible points of entry for pests, such as floor junctures, windows, and doorways.
• Use self-closing doors.
• Use air curtains in doorways, blowing air towards the outside.
• Install outdoor lighting away from the kitchen doorway, as lights can attract flying insects.
• Keep garbage areas enclosed and garbage receptacles tightly covered.
• Keep work areas clean, using a clean-as-you- go approach so pests won't have time to get started.
• Isolate trash-holding areas from the kitchen, and keep doors closed.
• Remove garbage promptly.
• Manage dirty dish handling on a timely basis.
• Locate outdoor trash holding areas at least 50 feet from the building, and maintain trash in an enclosure.
• Inspect deliveries thoroughly for signs of pest infestation, and refuse any that are suspect.

Round Two

Beyond this, you will find that a pest does, indeed, slip in sometimes. So, the next course of action relates to breeding control. For housefly management, it's helpful to clean garbage receptacles completely at least once a week. This is because some flies may be breeding right there, and you can interrupt the life cycle. Other breeding sites for flies may be near a window, vent, or doorway, or above ceiling tiles. For gnats, you need to check for damp spots and fungus, favored by these breeders. An example might be a collection of well-watered plants in a dining room, damp mop, or wet casters and wheels at the bottom of work tables. Where moisture is encouraging a gnat population, dryness will frequently solve the problem. Moisture control will also help check cockroach populations. To manage fruit flies, maintain a watch for any aging or rotting fruit that may attract them.

Other Controls

A now outdated technology uses electrical devices that "zap" flies on contact. The problem with these contraptions is that they spray fly particles into your operation, so they are not advisable. For a few flies, some experts suggest sticky paper can be helpful. Another option uses a trap that captures and kills the flies, keeping the work area free from particles.

Only as a last resort does an ordinary foodservice operation need the help of pesticides. The one used for flies is typically Pyrethrin, which must be applied by a licensed pest control operator. This chemical cannot be applied to work surfaces.

Communication

Many managers find that sound communication can go a long way as part of an integrated pest management system (IPM). IPM uses a combination of physical, biological, and chemical controls to manage pests, with use of chemicals as a last resort. Preventing infestation is truly a team effort. Everyone Ñ cooks, cleaning crews, receiving clerks, delivery drivers, plumbers, electricians who maintain your systems Ñ needs to know your plan and come on-board.

Realize that pests need four things to become a problem in your department. They need to get in, they need food, they need a place to call home (comfortable environment), and they need water. By depriving them of these four factors, you can enhance your own pest management system.

By Sue Grossbauer