How to Find the Right Pest Management Partner

There’s a lot on the line when a food company selects a third-party pest management firm as its partner in protecting its products — and its consumers — from the threat of pests. A strong pest control program can mean the difference between a happy customer and a ruined reputation for a food processing facility.

Pat Hottel, technical director at McCloud Services, South Elgin, Ill., recalled a seminar early on in her career during which a food industry professional succinctly summarized the importance of a healthy relationship between pest control provider and food facility.

“One of my very first — and I’ve been in the industry for over 40 years, so this goes back a ways — but one of my very first food industry seminars that I attended was a meeting of a large food processor and their QA people, and they happened to invite in their pest management companies and I attended it,” Hottel said. “And one of their presenters from this company stood up and said how important it is that the consumer, when they pick up the package of that product, of the food that they’re producing, doesn’t question whether it’s safe to consume.

“And it stuck with me all of these years that that is the goal, right? They have a pledge and a commitment and a need to make sure that what they produce is safe and a need to produce food that reflects that food safety image so that the consumer doesn’t question when they pick up that product, ‘Is it safe or not safe to feed my family?’ ”

Committing to a quality pest control program is a way for food companies to protect their brands, Hottel said, and it also solidifies their commitment to consumers. Not to mention regulatory compliance, because “penalties can be quite severe,” she said. “Recalls, some of the things that they have to do should they be under regulatory requirements — not just the penalties, but the steps that they’re going to have to take to make that right under FDA oversight — can be quite costly.”

Once a food facility has one pest problem, it can snowball into secondary pest issues, said Sharon Dobesh, director of technical services at IFC, Lenexa, Kan. “If rodents gnaw packages open or things like that, that can then lead to secondary pest problems where they have an easy way to enter the product,” she explained.

Pests not only introduce the potential for product damage, but the potential for spreading microbials throughout the food facility or the product, she added.

With the stakes so high, it’s important to find a pest control partner that meets your needs. Hottel and Dobesh laid out the process of partnering with a third-party pest management firm, from finding the right company to maintaining a positive and productive relationship with a pest control provider.

FIND THE RIGHT PARTNER. A food company should look for a third-party provider that can fulfill its individual needs. General pest control and rodent management are the two most popular services offered, Dobesh said, but sometimes facilities face more specific challenges, and they should make sure the pest control provider is equipped to handle those.

“If they know they have specific issues with certain occasional invaders — one of the places that comes to mind is somebody who deals with lizards on a regular basis as an occasional invader,” Dobesh said. “It’s something a little out of the norm, but can they help handle those sorts of situations?”

If a facility knows it needs additional services such as fogging or fumigation, it should ask if the pest control provider in question offers those treatments itself or outsources them to other companies, she said.

Food facilities should look for pest management firms that have proven experience with food processing accounts, Hottel said. Ask potential providers to detail their knowledge of the food industry.

“Look for a company that not only has a certain level of expertise but is constantly looking to improve and build on that,” Hottel said. “[Find] a company that has a leaning towards being more innovative.”

Make sure the pest control company is aware of any facility mandates in advance, such as audit requirements or products that can be used on site, Dobesh said. “If the facility has an approved pesticide list, make sure that they are following that,” she said.

Ask potential partners about their pest identification process and control recommendations based on pest biology. “Because you’re not going to get effective control if you don’t know what you’re controlling,” Dobesh said. “Pest identification is crucial.”

Find out if the company has an entomologist on staff experienced with pest identification. “Do they have direct contact with that person?” Dobesh said. “Do they have to go through a technician or somebody else? Or can they call and talk directly to their technical services or their entomologist on staff?”

Ask about the company’s documentation and recordkeeping process, Hottel said. “Some companies are going to have more comprehensive, sophisticated documentation packages,” she said. “And it’s more than just bells and whistles — it’s the ability to use that data by having these more comprehensive programs and tracking and trending. ... It’s helpful in preventing and developing techniques to prevent future pest problems.”

PROVIDE RECORDS (IF POSSIBLE). Providing records to a pest control provider can make the process run more smoothly.

The pest management firm will conduct a thorough initial assessment to determine facility conditions and pests present, examine facility history and develop a pest management program based on findings, Hottel said.

Helpful documents a facility can provide include trending reports that detail the number of traps in the facility and maps of where they are located, past pest issues that have been addressed and seasonal pest concerns, Dobesh said.

“If [pest control companies] can look at all of those and get an idea of what the snapshot is at the time that they’re interviewing, that helps,” she said.

However, not every food processor is willing to share those records, Hottel said. “But if they are willing, it can be helpful. And the pest management company is going to benefit from having some data.”

The quality and comprehensiveness of that data can vary depending on the previous contractor, Hottel acknowledged. “But it still can be helpful to at least look at it as some measurement of historical pest pressures.”

If a facility isn’t willing to share that data, or the data is not as complete as they’d like, the client may still be able to describe historical pest issues during a client interview, Hottel said. “The longer the client contact has been at the facility, the more detailed their knowledge of pest activity will likely be,” she said.

Sharing or allowing a pest control technician to take photos can also be beneficial.

“I understand sometimes the concern over confidentiality on this,” Hottel said. “Sometimes there’s corporate policies against this, but whenever possible, if they can allow photos to be taken to document findings, it can be very, very helpful in illustrating what the service specialist has found.”

If photos simply go against policy, then someone from the facility should at least take the time to walk around the premises with the technician. “It’s of critical nature that they make time available to inspect with the technician and take a look at exactly what the technician has seen and is asking for help with,” Hottel said.

The time an assessment takes depends on a facility’s size and complexity. The larger the facility, the more areas that will require inspection and the longer the initial assessment is going to take. “It’s going to vary timewise, but it’s certainly not something that’s going to be done in 30 minutes,” Hottel said.

TAKE PREVENTIVE MEASURES. A food facility should consider prevention during the pest management firm selection process, Hottel said. Ask what kind of exclusion services the contractor offers. “Do they install back door seals, for example, or dock plate seals?” Hottel said. “What other services can they offer?”

Remember that as part of a functioning partnership, the pest management company will rely on the facility to handle some prevention issues, said Dobesh, such as maintenance and sanitation concerns.

The pest management service specialist should note conditions during visits and report them to the food facility, Hottel said.

Hottel said food facilities can take several key prevention measures to make their pest control program more effective, with exclusion coming in at No. 1 — “making sure that the building is as sealed as possible to prevent pest entry,” she said.

Focus on areas such as doors (including dock doors and personnel doors) and dock levelers and ensure the proper seals are in place to prevent pest entry, Hottel said. Establish protocol for employees, staff and contractors entering the premises to keep doors closed when not in use. If doors or windows must be open for ventilation purposes, they should be screened, Hottel said. Ventilation systems should be assessed to determine if screening is required.

As a second line of defense, install quick roll-up doors. For example, Hottel said, a facility might separate a packaging area from the dock with a roll-up door that closes quickly and helps protect the sensitive packaging area from the more pest-prone docking area.

Next, focus on the exterior. Develop a thorough program for the inspection of incoming goods to protect against bringing in pests on shipments, said Hottel. Then, examine how those products are being stored, Dobesh said. “Make sure that old and new aren’t mingling if there is the potential of a pest problem,” she said.

Aim to reduce attractions around the facility’s exterior to limit the number of insects that are drawn to the building, Hottel said. For example, pay attention to dumpster compactor maintenance. Examine the placement and types of lighting around the building to determine if they are drawing insects toward the facility.

Look out for product spillage. “Some facilities have silos or grain or food unloading areas where we might have a tendency for spillage,” Hottel said. “How well maintained are those?”

Finally, examine exterior vegetation. “Are we encouraging pests by the types of landscaping selected for the outside of our structure?” Hottel said. “That’s a big challenge. Many food facilities are given requirements by their municipalities to have a certain amount of landscape plants.”

Research the trees and shrubs planted around the facility: do they flower, attracting bees and other insects? These exterior factors can impact pest pressures inside a facility.

REEVALUATE AS NEEDED. Just because a pest control program has been established doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. The program should periodically be reevaluated.

“This is something that the food plant should expect, that reevaluation of the program to operate on a periodic basis to verify that the program is, indeed, working as intended,” Hottel said.

Make sure the facility’s sanitation and exclusion programs are inspected and monitored throughout the year, Dobesh said, especially in the spring and fall.

“Spring and fall are two key times, because you get the spring invaders when pests first come out and then again in the fall when pests are looking to overwinter,” she said. “Those are probably the two big movement issues that we see with pests. But most facilities have regular inspections, whether they’re weekly, monthly or quarterly. Have those types of inspections on a schedule to look for those deep sanitation and exclusion issues that can be fixed.”

COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR PARTNER. Communication is key to making the relationship between a food company and a pest control provider work properly, said Dobesh.

“With integrated pest management, there are a lot of moving pieces to making a complete program work effectively, and without that communication, it can start to unravel at many different points,” she said. “So that communication is one of the key factors in making all of this work, followed up by not only communication with your pest management company, but then communication with others involved, whether it be with maintenance or sanitation or whichever sector of a facility is responsible for all of these different moving pieces.”

A food facility should expect its pest management partner to have initial and closing meetings during every service. It’s also important that the food facility has reliable access to its technician. “So if they have an emergency, do they have somebody to contact, or do they have to sit and wait until the next visit?” Dobesh said. “That would be one example where the communication is crucial.”

Food facilities should remember that in the end, they own the program.

“They may be hiring a pest control company, but they own that pest management program,” Hottel said. “And it’s important that they understand what’s going on in their facility. I certainly understand it may not happen every time, but as much as possible, they need to make time to be with that technician, both before and after service, so that they do understand what the status of the pest management program is, what help might be needed in order to take care of a pest, or help that’s needed to prevent pests.

“Strong communication. Strong partnership. And that partnership is going to rely on that regular frequency of interacting with that service specialist.”

The author is a contributing editor to Quality Assurance & Food Safety magazine.