How Much Do You Really Know About Pest Control?

Pest management has always been a critical aspect of food safety, but with increasing regulation, customer requirements, and consumer advocacy, implementing pest management as a preventive control is becoming more of a mandate than simply a best practice. To find out how much you know about pest management, try your hand at this quiz.  Scoring and answers are here.
 

Select the best answer for each of the following questions on pest management service.

1. What is the most important thing to understand about a pest for effective control?

a. Its color

b. Its scientific name

c. Its biology and behavior
 

2. What is the primary source of German cockroaches in a food plant?

a. Hitchhiking in on employees or their belongings

b. Harboring in delivered supplies

c. Crawling in from outdoors 

3. Which pest most frequently causes food facility shutdown by a government agency?

a. Cockroaches

b. Rodents

c. Flies
 

4. Why are occasional invaders that come in from the outdoors (e.g., centipedes, ground beetles) of concern, even if they are not seen in the food processing area?

a. They will breed inside the facility

b. They will scare workers

c. They are a sign that there is an entry point through which other pests may enter 
 

5. What is the optimum height at which to place an insect light trap to intercept flies?

a. Less than two feet above the floor

b. More than five feet above the floor

c. From two to five feet above the floor
 

6. What should you be able to expect from your pest control provider?

a. Complete eradication of all pests from your property

b. Knowledge of your plant equipment, process flow, and practices

c. Conducting of corrective action on any structural or sanitation issues
 

7. In the new FSMA rules, due to be issued this year, pest control is considered a preventive control, so must be included in the written Food Safety Plan.

a. True

b. False 
 

8. Effective pest-prevention practices can make pesticide application unnecessary.

a. True

b. False 
 

9. By hiring a pest control service provider, you relieve yourself of any responsibility for pest control.

a. True

b. False