If you own a restaurant, you put your heart and soul into it. It’s your baby and you take care of it. The last thing you want associated with your restaurant is pests. If pests get into your restaurant, they get into the food and your customers become unhappy. Not only do you get unhappy customers, you get low sanitation scores and your customers stop coming in and your restaurant loses business. Follow these tips for what restaurant owners can do to prevent pests and keep your business going:

Storage of Food

Keeping food properly stored away is one of the biggest things restaurant owners can do to prevent pests. It all starts from the very beginning. When food shipments arrive, inspect the cases for any signs of pests before bringing them inside. If they are filled with pests and you don’t inspect them, you just let those nasty pests walt in the front door. Once inside, store the food in airtight storage containers and keep them off the ground and in the proper temperature. Food should be kept in first-in, first-out storage so items don’t stay longer than they should.

Cleaning Up

The second most important factor to prevent pests is proper clean-up. Any spills and crumbs should be regularly cleaned from the floors, shelves, and other areas they might occur. Trash bins should be tightly covered and regularly emptied. Your dumpsters should be away from your back door with it’s own lid on tight. The kitchen should be cleaned often, especially the grease traps.

Openings

Any openings like windows or doors should not be left propped open. This is another invitation for the critters to come inside. Be sure your door seals are tight. If they aren’t, you should have door sweeps installed to fill in the gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. If you notice any holes or cracks anywhere in your restaurant, take immediate action to seal them back up and check for any pests that may have gotten through.

If you do find pests in your restaurant, call Maine Bed Bugs and Pest Control right away to get them removed. The longer you wait to call, the worse it will be for your restaurant. Call us today at (207) 650-8654.