COMMERCIAL PEST CONTROL FOR RESTAURANTS & FOOD BUSINESSES

REST EASY PEST CONTROL SERVICING LONG ISLAND & NYC 

Any reputable restaurant will take steps by implementing proper pest management to ensure the safety of their customers.

pest-free restaurant in nyc. There are customers in the first and second floor

If you’re the owner of a restaurant or food business industry, the last thing you want to see or hear is rats running around the place. Despite what the Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille may want you to believe, rats and mice cannot help you cook or serve your food. What they can do is cause a health hazard, not to mention health code violations, simply by being in the kitchen.

Pest management is also vital to enhance your brand reputation and ongoing consumer satisfaction. If customers actually see the pests or evidence of them, word-of-mouth damage to your reputation is almost sure to follow. Then, there’s the cost of food spoilage, as well as the potential of physical damage to the restaurant (e.g., termites on the wall or rats gnawing wiring).

Keeping Your Restaurant Pest-Free

As a reliable pest control company, Rest Easy Pest Control combines an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach. We address both the exterior and interior of your restaurant or establishment. Not only focusing on addressing your pest problems, but we also focus on why the problem exists in the first place. Our effective pest control will eliminate the three things pests need to live and survive: food, water, and shelter.

If you own or manage a restaurant, you can take the following steps to protect yourself from the substantial harm to your food business:

1. Eliminate Entry Points

Pests often enter buildings through doors and windows. So make sure there are no openings to the outside that allow pests inside. These entry points can range from foundational issues to simply having an outside door to the kitchen that doesn’t seal properly. Facility doors should be sealed with door sweeps and be self-closing.

2. Set the Exterior Lighting Back from the Building

Correctly placing the exterior lights could play an important role in attracting pests away from your building. Be sure they aren’t positioned above your restaurant’s entryways, rather, set back from the building and directed towards it. You also want to use yellow (sodium vapor) exterior lightings as they entice fewer pests.

3. Clean the Area Outside Your Restaurant

Sometimes, restaurant owners overlook the cleanliness and proper hygiene of the area surrounding their building. If you want to keep these creatures out of your establishment, the first thing you’ll want to do is eliminate any waste that might be lying around. Also be sure to take out the trash on a regular basis, as odors emanating from food that has been thrown away will quickly attract hungry rodents.

 

The area around your restaurant (within 50 feet at least) should be kept free of litter and trash, foliage, and standing water sources. You also want to make sure that there’s no mulch around your building as it can be a nest of rats, mice, and other pests. Trash should be regularly removed and the garbage containers should be kept clean and covered when not in use.

————————–

If you frequently have standing water outside, or if you have an indoor plumbing problem that’s leading to recurring puddles, fix the problem. Also, behind the restaurant, get rid of any junk (e.g., old kitchen equipment, piles of broken pallets).

————————–

4. Clean the Area Inside Your Restaurant

Never leave out food overnight. Keep the floors clean of food scraps. Clean up all spills. This is basic restaurant sanitation, but being lax in these areas can create conditions that attract pests such as spiders, cockroaches, ants, flies, rats, and termites. Cracks and crevices at the floor or wall should also be sealed.

5. The Use of Poisons

If rodents get inside your restaurant, your first inclination may be to reach for some kind of poison. There aren’t really any sprays that have been proven effective in the past, but if you want to go this route, you can attempt to use a powdered rat poison. Spread it around your problem areas and, with any luck, you may discover a dead rodent or two.

6. The Use of Traps

A popular form of rodent protection is the use of traps. These typically fall into two categories — humane and … well, not so humane. First, we’ll look at the ones that aren’t humane. Due to the nature of the beast, standard traps that bait a rodent into a spring-loaded death are often the best choice.

The drawback is that you must take the time to refill the trap every few days. If this doesn’t excite you, a more humane trap might be your style. These traps will also bait the rodent, but instead of killing, their job is to capture the rodents.

Another choice is the use of pheromone traps. Pheromones are chemicals that pests use to communicate with each other. Many pest females use pheromones to attract mates. These pheromones can be synthesized and used to attract pest males and trap them in a sticky trap.

7. Train Employees on Restaurant Pest Control

It’s essential that all employees understand the importance of pest control in restaurants and what they can do to prevent pests from becoming a problem. Of course, employees should already be trained in restaurant hygiene, but emphasizing the role of sanitation in pest control can reinforce the importance of cleanliness.

a staff is preparing food in a small restaurant

For example, an employee who is diligent about sanitation while handling food in the kitchen might ignore a rotten piece of fruit that drops out of the trash by the dumpster. But with an understanding of how food-strewn dumpster areas can attract pests, that employee might be more careful and clean up any spills.  

 8. Use Pest Control Services

If all else fails, don’t hesitate to call an expert. There’s no shame in hiring a pest control company for rodent protection. An exterminator will visit your facility, get a lay of the land, and evaluate your rodent protection needs.

Once everything has been discussed, the exterminator will get to work immediately so that the rodent problem in your restaurant is taken care of in a timely manner.

A pest control company will inspect the inside and outside of the restaurant for existing pests and exterminate any they find. They’ll also point out problem areas that need fixing.***