Pest Control for Cafes
Why is it important to control pests for a Cafe
Food, Pests and the Law
The Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Hygiene Regulations 2005 established a legal framework regarding food. It is deemed unsafe if seen as a health hazard or unfit for human consumption. All food business operators are required to meet general hygiene standards. It is vital that food premises are designed and built to enable good food hygiene practices and to ensure protection against contamination, especially through adequate pest control.
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Most Common Pests in Business Premises
Rats
There are two main species of rat in the UK with most common being the Brown rat - Rattus norvegicas (as pictured).
- Require 30-60 ml of water per day and 20-25 g of food
- Gestation period approximately 21 days
- Sexually mature in 12 weeks
- Weaning period approximately 21 days
- Average litter 6-11
- Cosmopolitan and widespread. Highly adaptive and able to survive in a wide range of habitats but always needs access to water to survive.
- Size - weight 300 - 500 g
- Body length 200 - 270 mm
- Tail length 150 - 180 mm
- Blunt muzzle with small ears/eyes, thick set body.
Most of the dropping will be found in the latrine (the site picked by the rats to use as a toilet) and will be rounded at the end approximately 12 mm in length.
The brown rat can do up to 40 droppings per day.
Mice
There are six different species of mice in the UK with the house mouse - Mus domesticus (as pictured) being the most common.
- Requires 3-4 g of food a day
- Gets water from food
- Gestation period approximately 21 days
- Sexually mature in 5-8 weeks
- Weaning period approximately 21 days
- Average litter 5-8
- Cosmopolitan and widespread. Highly adaptive and able to survive in a wide range of habitats.
- Average size- weight 15 g (can reach 25 g)
- Body length 70-90 mm
- Tail length 50-70 mm
- Large ears and pointed muzzle giving a triangular shaped head.
- Droppings are a small spindle shape between 3-7 mm long in a scattered pattern. the house mouse can do up to 80 droppings per day as well as being incontinent.
Being omnivorous The house mouse will eat a wide variety of food depending on availability and location.
Flies
There are thousands of different fly species in the UK and depending on the type of flies you have the treatment will change. A survey would be needed to identify the flies and the source before treatment could start.
Why control them?
Flies can carry and spreed diseases due to the nature of there breading and diet. It is especially important that they are controlled in food areas.
