Owning and managing a restaurant is a rewarding experience, but comes with many challenges and responsibilities. One of these responsibilities is to keep the dining area and kitchen free of pests such as insects and rodents. Because restaurants contain large amounts of food that pests seek out, keeping them away requires restaurant managers to stay on their toes. Here are a few reasons you should use commercial pest control to keep your restaurant free of these creatures. 

To Keep Your Business Growing

If a guest sees a rodent or insect inside a restaurant, whether dead or alive, that can quickly turn them away and cause them to believe that the food and food preparation areas are unsanitary. Once word spreads that a restaurant has a problem with pests, the reputation of a restaurant can easily be ruined, causing the business to lose customers. Customers often write bad reviews on restaurants if they see a bug or rodent in the establishment, even if it is just a one-time occurrence and not a pest invasion. It can be difficult to earn back a good reputation, so preventing any pests from entering the building by using a commercial pest control service is key.

Treat entryways and other spaces in the building close to doors with the same care that you would treat the kitchen. This is because entryways are the first areas that patrons encounter and are their first impression of the restaurant. Spraying outdoor areas close to windows and doors and making sure windows and doors are properly sealed helps prevent pests from entering the restaurant at all. 

To Comply With Sanitation Standards

Rodents and bugs can carry pathogens and spread disease. For this reason, it is vital that your restaurant carry out a regular pest control regimen. Pests can crawl on and bite people who are dining and infest food in the kitchen and storage areas of the restaurant. Hair, droppings, and urine from rodents can contaminate food and food preparation surfaces with bacteria like E. coli and salmonella. These bacteria can cause severe illness, especially in children and those with compromised immune systems. Even if hair and particles from insects do not harbour bacteria, it is unsanitary to risk getting these particles in foods and drinks that will be served to customers. 

To Maintain Health and Safety

In addition to the illnesses caused by lack of sanitation brought on by pests, unwanted insects and rodents in a restaurant can cause other kinds of health and safety risks. Some of these risks include:

• The chance of mice chewing on and wearing down electrical wires, potentially sparking a fire in the building

• The morale of the dining room and kitchen staff being lowered, leading to unneeded stress and missed workdays

• Respiratory illnesses caused by insects and rodents, which can cause symptoms ranging from mild to severe

• The spread of diseases such as leptospirosis and rat-bite fever

• The opportunity for rodents to chew through walls and insulation, leading to a loss of heat in the building and the potential for more animals to enter the establishment 

Maintaining the health and safety of employees and customers is extremely important, especially in the foodservice industry. Pests are detrimental to upholding these standards. 

How Pest Control Can Help

You can do some things to help keep pests out of your restaurant, such as wiping down countertops and keeping stored food sealed tightly. However, the safest and most effective option for eliminating pests and ensuring they do not return is to call a commercial pest control service. Give Truly Nolen Canada a call and let us answer any questions you may have and take care of your pest control needs.