Rodents

Rats
• Rats eat on average one tenth of their body
weight each day.
• Omnivorous but cereals are preferred.
• They drink lot of water unless the food is moisty.
• They have fear of new objects called neophobia.

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• If there is any bait, it will check before
touching it.
• Farms where the animal feeds and grains
are stored creates ideal environment for
rats.
• Particularly in winter, enter into the
building and start multiplying.
• Rats are very good climbers.
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Mice
• Mice will drink water if available but can survive
on food with a moisture content of 15 percent.
• Generally mice kibble the whole grains where rat
fed grains be like chopped experience.
• In domestic premises, locations favoured by mice
are food storage and preparation areas such as
kitchens and pantries.
• Airing cupboards, sub floor areas, enclosed
pipes, baths and loft areas are also favoured 3
Squirrels
• Recently, this squirrels has become major
pest.
• Damages the structures and contaminate
the fruits and vegetables by partially eating
it.

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Problems associated with rodents
• Senses of rodents makes them best
survival organism in earth.
• Spread of disease
• Contamination of products
• Damage to food stocks and property
• Rodents can cause damage to food
intended for humans, by consumption,
contamination with feces and urine. 5
• Rodents have the capability to spread many
human pathogens, such as Salmonella spp,
Listeria spp, Escherichia coli,
Cryptosporidium parvum, Leptospira spp,
Hantaviruses, Bubonic plague and
Toxoplasmosis.
• Incisor teeth in the rodents continue to grow
till life ends.
• This causes the products wear.
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• Squirrels are larger and stronger capable
of breaking the proofing materials made of
wood.
• Once it get entered into the building
damages many things including foods.

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 Pests
Cockroaches
• Various species of cockroaches are Oriental
cockroach, German cockroach, Brown-banded
cockroach, American cockroach, Australian
cockroach and many.
• The above mentioned cockroaches have 11 – 53
mm in length.
• These are highly associated in britain. Indian type
cockroaches are larger than this. 8
• Cockroaches mostly comes out when its
darken.
• They generally feed various organic matter
including food stuffs.
• Female cockroaches lay eggs in surfaces, if
any foods exposed gets contaminated.
• Cockroaches foul their environment with
faeces, regurgitated food and they taint
materials with their characteristic smell
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• Environment contaminated by
cockroaches contain exoskeletons.
• They directly contaminate the food by
feeding it and excreting on it.

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Flies
• Some common flies are house fly, moth fly,
fruit fly.
• Flies have a complete life cycle, consisting
of 4 main stages – egg, larva, pupa and
adult.
• The duration of each developmental stage
is very much dependent on temperature
and food/ moisture availability 11
• All true flies (adult stage) can only ingest liquid
food. Should they land on a solid food source, they
produce large quantities of saliva together with
regurgitated gut contents.
• The mixture, rich in digestive enzymes, is vomited
onto the food together with any living bacteria,
viruses and protozoa present in the gut.
• The resulting liquid food is then sucked back up.
This process may be repeated several times
during which time the fly may defecate to reduce
the overall body weight in readiness for flight. 12
• This feeding mechanism underlies the
principle mode of food contamination with
disease pathogens and spoilage
organisms.
• Flies are highly mobile and carries wide
range of disease causing microbial agents.

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Ants
• Series pest for sweet food products.
• Possibly contaminates the foods with
microbial agents.

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Stored product insects (SPI)
• Stored product insects (SPI) are significant pests as
they spend the majority of their time, including
breeding, hidden in their chosen food type.
Categories
• Primary – able to penetrate into grain. Two types :
Internal and external.
– Internal – life cycles completed inside the grain
– External – life cycle completed outside the grain.

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SPI

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• Secondary – insects can be feed the fungus
present in the surface of the grains (poorly
stored or damaged product)
• SPI found in various products from wet (green
leafy vegetables) to dry (grains and flour).
Preventive measures:
• All incoming raw materials should be sampled
for the presence of insects.
• Strict stock rotation must be implemented
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• Thorough cleaning is required to prevent
build up of product within plant and
machinery
• Monitoring procedures should be in place to
identify early signs of infestation
• Staff must be aware of the high-risk areas
and products on site
• Accurate identification is essential in order to
pinpoint the likely source of the infestation
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Birds
• The common pest birds are feral pigeon, collared
dove, male house sparrow, starlings and crow.
Problems associated:
• The droppings of birds spoil the products.
• Structural damages
• Particularly in grain storage, the birds eat large
amount of grains and incur damages.
• Feathers and nest material are the common
contaminants. 19
• The droppings and the grain damage by
the birds cause even a microbial diseases.
(Salmonellosis)
• Birds flu can also be communicated
humans.
• Birds’ nests harbour insects and mites
which live as scavengers on the nest
material.
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Integrated pest management
• Building, machinery and materials design
• Building maintenance and exclusion
practices
• Advice on good housekeeping practices.
• Inspections and monitoring
• Physical control methods
• Chemical control methods
• Habitat/environmental management 21
 Steps to be followed
Identification of pests
• Identifying the type of pest is important
because based on the pest only pest
management technique is selected.
Maintenance of record book
• Report on pest infestation should be
maintained for future reference.
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• By maintaining the reports, it is useful to
analyse the seasonal variations in pest
activity.
• Complaints made by the persons should
be monitored immediately and keep
recorded.

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Through inspection
• Inspection should cover the entire building
including the ground within the perimeter.
• Each area is divide into high, intermediate
and low risk areas
• High risk areas: Incoming raw or packed
food and stored food, Food preparation
areas and Finished good warehouse (esp.
grain flour).
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• Intermediate risk areas: Chance for pest
activity will be there but the products there
is not high risk. (eg. containers used for
transportation)
• Low risk areas: Air conditioned Food
business outlets, when there in hygiene
environment chance for pest infestation is
less.
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List out the information gathered
• Information on pest
– Type of pest
– Location
– Numbers
– Extent of infestation
– Risk to food safety
– Proposed control methods
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• Information on the premises
– Potential entry routes of pests
– Exclusion recommendations
– Hygiene and house-keeping requirements
– Storage and stock rotation process
– Risk assessments

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Sources of information
• From the pest sightings log
• From sight management and staff
• From pest traps (fly killer)
• From visible evidence

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Trend analysis
• Inspection checklist and other
documentation are used to keep record
the trend (extent of pest activity).
• This analysis helps in making precaution
steps and also evaluates the pest
management activity.

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Surveillance of adjacent properties and
suppliers
• From nearby sites, both rodents and insects
(esp. flies) can able to migrate considerable
distance.
• Non toxic baits should be preferred than toxic
bait particularly for rats.
• Suppliers should be frequently audited for
any pest signs.
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Suggested inspection tools
• Torch
• Spatula or scrapper
• ×10 magnifying lens
• Specimen tubes or sample tubes
• Bait box keys
• Inspection ladder
• Inspection specimen set
• Endoscope
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 Inspection for Rodents
Droppings:
• The shape and size of droppings will help you
to identify the species. Rat droppings are
bigger whereas mice droppings are smaller.
• Also, The presence of large droppings (from
adults) and small droppings (from young)
indicates a breeding population.
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• Fresh droppings indicate the presence of rats
and mice activity
Live/dead rodents
• Both rats and mice are in the main nocturnal. If
you see live rodents during the daytime then
they are short of food, or there is a heavy
infestation or a harbourage has been disturbed.
• Large numbers of rodents, particularly mice,
have a characteristic smell.
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Smears
• Smears made by fur and excretory of the rats and
rodents.
• A greasy film on the surface made by the urine and
excretory where this rats and rodents contacting
regularly.
Foot prints
• Foot prints and tail swipes helps to identify the type
of rodent.
• By spreading the dust or flour (any tracking aid)
used to record the prints. 34
Gnawing damage
• Damages made by incisor teeth.
• Based on the extent of damage the rodent activity
can be identified
Runs and borrows
• Rats may feed in the building but stay outside in the
borrows.
• Based on the frequent runs, the burrows can be
identified. After that it can be destroyed.
• If the burrow filled with webs then it is unused.
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 Inspection for Pest
Cockroaches
• Brown irregular streaks
• Usually noticeable in their harbourages. (Drainage
pipes, Store rooms, waste bins, Ventilation, service
ducts, etc.)
• Parts of cockroaches left in their pathway explored.
• In kitchens, behind and under ovens, sinks and
kitchen units
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Flies
• A localised congregation of adults often
indicates the presence of a nearby breeding
site.
• The larval form mostly found in moist places
• Inspect waste disposal area for larva
• Mostly found in the bottom area of the
stored garbage
• Generally found near the fluorescent lights
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Ants
• Identified from the trails made by the ants
• These are often found around door
thresholds, and around sinks and
cupboards.

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