When we go out to a restaurant, it’s meant to be an enjoyable way to spend time with our friends or family as we eat good food. Finding a pest in your food or seeing one scurry past can turn your night out into a nightmare. There’s a lot of competition in the restaurant industry, so it can be detrimental to your business if pests are spotted. Owners of restaurants need to be on top of possible threats to their business from pests. It’s easy to prevent these issues if you have regular pest control services giving you the upper hand.

Common Pests Found in Restaurants

1. Cockroaches. Cockroaches are notorious in commercial kitchens. They are always looking for sources of water and food, so large scale kitchens are ideal. Cockroaches are very bad for business because inspectors can close your business down if roaches are spotted. They are scavengers and a health risk to humans as they crawl everywhere and will contaminate food. They are also vectors of disease. Signs of roaches are droppings that look like coffee grounds, odor, and physical sightings.
2. Flies. Flies can be found anywhere and are a nuisance. Their feeding habits are dangerous to our food as they will vomit or defecate on your food in a split second, spreading dangerous bacteria and viruses. To prevent them from getting into your restaurants you need to caulk cracks and holes from the outside, clean the restaurant including storage areas regularly and use properly fitted screens. Regular sightings are cause for inspecting your business.
3. Ants. Ants love anything found in kitchens, from grease to sugar. Spills need to be cleaned right away. This can be hard in tight spaces and you won’t know you’ve missed spots until you see a trail of ants in the kitchen. Cleanliness and garbage removal are key. Sightings of ants mean you’ll need to step up your cleaning practices.
4. Pantry pests. Pantry pests will invade flours, cereals, grains, baking mixes, nuts, and pasta. They are the most common problem in commercial establishments. They are common in dirty kitchens but can get into clean ones too by hitching rides with packaged food. They will contaminate food with their feces and fluids. Sightings and holes in packaging are signs you have them.
5. Rodents. Rodents don’t care if your establishment is squeaky clean or dirty. If there’s food, water, and shelter with entry points, they’ll come right on in. Their destructive feeding habits cost millions of dollars each year. Scarier is the number of viruses and disease-causing bacteria they carry and transmit to humans. Droppings, sounds, nests, smudge marks, and gnawing are signs you need to address a rodent problem.

Professional Commercial Pest Control

People would rather eat at home than with pests. These pests can ruin the reputation of your establishment as well as pose serious health risks to your customers. Having effective pest control is vital to a restaurant’s continued success. If you already have an infestation, it’s not an easy task to take on yourself. If you want to ensure you won’t have issues with any of these pests, contact Rentokil to take proactive steps with regular monitoring to keep your restaurant’s reputation glowing!