October 18, 2021
RATSENSE - Rodent Management in Food Courts
You wake up one morning and read in the newspaper that a rat was spotted in a food court of a shopping mall or an airport, or at a restaurant. You feel disgusted and congratulate yourself for never having dined at that offending establishment before. What do you do next? Not only you decide never to eat at that place in future but you also start telling others about this to prevent them from going there and falling sick.
That is the kind of damage a single rat can do to a business. It can completely tarnish the brand image and reputation and cut down customers in massive numbers. Therefore, it is extremely important that food outlets are very careful with the way they are managing their hygiene, not only in terms of the cooking but also maintenance. Rats are also responsible for damage of property and transmission of diseases.
One of the ways hygiene can be maintained in such places is through a proper rodent management system. A public place has lots of inlets and outlets. These entry and exit points provide a convenient opportunity to the rodents for free movement. They can get in when they find it safe and quickly leave and hide somewhere when there are people movement and activity around.
Not only complete eradication but rodent monitoring is equally important because rats and mice are too intelligent to be spotted easily. They breed very fast; while you may assume you have caught and killed one, there might be an entire family living in a hideout in the building.
To begin with, sanitation is extremely important. The next important thing is the closure of the entry and exit points. If you are one of the vendors in a place shared by many, it is not possible for you to supervise these things yourself. In fact, these are not one-time activities but recurring ones that need constant supervision. Using rat poison is not feasible approach as this may lead to food contamination and, thereby, invite legal issues. You have to keep the food and drinks sealed, but you can’t guarantee it for all the other vendors, sharing space with you in the same building. Management of wastage and food leftovers, leaky pipes and faucets, cracked foundation, missing screens – all of these are factors that can contribute to the infestation and spread of rodents.
Therefore, it is best to contact a company to help you with a viable rodent management system for the entire building or floor. These companies have exterminators, who have the experience and expertise of dealing with and handling rats and mice. They will not miss out on potential rodent breeding or activity zones and will implement changes and protection all over the place to ensure complete eradication of rodents. Also, considering the fact that you are running a food business, they will ensure not to use poisons or any kind of method that may pose a threat to the health of people. They will continue with rodent monitoring for a few months more to check if there is further infestation.