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2. Proper operation

New raw materials or finished products that arrive in a building must be viewed upon with suspicion until it is certain that they are not infested with live pests. If practically possible, the products should be checked before it arrives – that means by the supplier. Recently arrived goods should be kept isolated from the other warehouse and production premises and preferably in a place where there is minimal risk that any pests spread to the rest of the building. The same applies to returned goods and used packaging – especially in cases where these things are sent back because there were pests in them. The ideal isolation room should be insect proof, ventilated, well lit and contain nothing more than the goods placed in the middle of the room. At regular intervals, the space should be emptied for goods and the empty spaces should be treated with insecticide.

Food should be stored for as short time as possible. A harmless occurrence which could hardly be noted may in time become an unmanageable problem. Therefore, obey the principle: first in – first out. Many pests occur when you forget the oldest products or – worse still – you mix them with new ones.

In the mid 1970s, many bakers acquired 3-8 tonnes flour silos, which was filled up regularly. This resulted in the silos quickly becoming full of moths, beetles and mites of the sort that could be found in negligible concentrations in all flour. In the flour silos they got their big break because the silos were never emptied and cleaned. Something similar happens with pests in grain, where 9 out of 10 cases originates from the small remnant old grain that nobody bothered to move before the newly harvested grain was stored.

Regular cleaning of the premises has many advantages. In clean, manageable premises pests are discovered earlier on and cleaning alone will remove a big part of the pests as well as what they live in. In clean, simple rooms chemical insecticides are ease to manage and they are most effective on clean surfaces. Goods should as far as possible be arranged to avoid creating habitats for pests. Do not place goods against a warm wall or pipes. Goods that stand up against a cold wall in a hot and humid room should be brought slightly away from the wall so humid zones of condensation are avoided in the product itself. When cleaning, one should have good light, so it is easy to spot spilled food. Preferably use a vacuum cleaner or broom. When it is necessary to use water for washing floors one should not overflow the floor with water. Too much water during cleaning is felt in the humidity of a room for a long time afterwards. Watering floors with a hose cannot be avoided in some companies, but then it is important that the ventilation is adequate. The cleaning staff should be especially aware of cables and pipes, wells and grits in the floor and under the elevators and machinery. These sites are often not part of normal cleaning practices, but in the food industry there is no denying that these places must be cleaned too, if you want to prevent creeping and crawling pests. It is very much possible to overlook habitats for pests during cleaning. This can to some extent be taken into account by letting rooms or buildings be disinfected regularly. This can be done by spraying, dusting or fumigation, as it seems appropriate. It is highly recommended that you get help for that by a professional extermination company in recognition of the fact that few companies today have the necessary expertise; experience and equipment for pest control themselves.

Waste removal, particularly during the summer months, is important as to avoid fermenting waste or offal attracting flies and become a breeding ground for them. During hot weather waste must be removed every other day. In cooler summer weather it is perhaps only necessary once a week. Waste containers which for some reason cannot be removed must be dusted well with insect powder.

Food Pests
Introduction
An old problem
Competition for food
Pests can ruin stored goods
Why not just eat the insects
Some insects are unhealthy to eat
Allergy to pests
Transmission of infectious diseases
Where do pests come from?
Synanthrope species
(1) The house dust mite and the sugar mite
(2) The firebrat and the silverfish
(3) The German cockroach and the forest cockroach
(4) The rust-red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle
(5) The merchant grain beetle and the saw-toothed grain beetle
(6) The cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle
(7) The rice weevil and the granary weevil
(8) The pharaoh ant and the common black ant
History of the dark flour beetle
Pests in bird's nests
Mould fauna
The Look and Behaviour of pests
Insect appearance
Internal
Insect development
Insect senses
Behaviour
Water and Moisture
Temperature
What insects live off and live in
The Air
Mites
Bug Indentification
The various species
Mites
The flour mite
The sugar mite
The common house mite
The Lardoglyphus zacheri
The prune mite
The cheese mite
The house dust mite
The Cheyletus eruditus
Silverfish
The Silverfish
The firebrat
Cockroaches
The German cockroach
The Oriental cockroach
The brown-banded cockroach
The American cockroach
The extermination of cockroaches
Crickets
Earwigs
Booklice
Butterflies
The Mediterranean flour moth
The warehouse moth
Tropical warehouse moth
The brown house moth
The Indian meal moth
Grain beetles
The saw-toothed grain beetle
The merchant grain beetle
The rust-red grain beetle
Flour beetles
The yellow mealworm beetle
The lesser mealworm beetle
The dark flour beetle
The confused flour beetle
The rust-red flour beetle
The bolting cloth beetle
Furniture beetles
The drugstore beetle
The cigarette beetle
Bostrychidae
The lesser grain borer
True weevils snout beetles
The granary weevil
The rice weevil
The corn weevil
Bean weevils
The common bean weevil
The coffee bean weevil
Skin beetles
The bacon beetle
The dermestid beetle
The leather beetle
The khapra beetle
The reesa vespulae
Chequered beetles
The red-legged ham beetle
The red-breasted copra beetle
The black-legged ham beetle
Spider beetles
The Australian spider beetle
The white-marked spider beetle
The golden spider beetle
The smooth spider beetle
Plaster beetles
Flies
The common house fly
The lesser house fly
Blowflies
The grey flesh fly
The cheese skipper
Fruit flies
Hymenoptera
The common black ant
The pharaoh ant
Wasps
Birds
The domestic pigeon
The house sparrow
Prevention and control of birds
Rodents
The house mouse
The yellow-necked mouse
Mouse prevention
Mouse control
The brown rat
The black rat
Rat prevention
Rat control
Imaginary pests
Niches of food pests
A: The Waste Niche
B: The seed niche
C: The dead plant niche
D: The sugary excrement niche
E: The carrion niche
Prevention and Control, Integrated Control
A. Inspection of the company and its environment
The environment
The premises
Examination of raw materials and food on site
Sampling
Laboratory methods for detection of pests in food
B. Statement of the problem
C. Prevention and control
1. Proper organisation of the company
2. Proper operation
3. Exclusion, proofing buildings
4. Packaging
5. Non-chemical control measures
6. Chemical control
Resistance
D: Effective monitoring and communication
Appendix
Literature
Extermination with poison
International trade
Colouration of small, pale animals
Index

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