Wichita KS Restaurants Fail Food Safety Inspections
During food safety inspections and lodging conducted from February 19-25 by the Kansas Department of Agriculture, seven restaurants and other businesses failed to meet compliance requirements. According to The Wichita Eagle, Tuptim Thai, a restaurant at 2121 N. Rock Road Ste. 300, Wichita had four violations listed after an inspection on February 24th. These violations included live and dead cockroaches in the building, and a hole in the kitchen wall near the sink was big enough for pests to get inside.
Other restaurants that failed the food safety inspections are Dog ‘N Shake, Park City Inn, and the Sandbox at Derby, which was cited for old pulled pork. Failing a food safety inspection doesn’t mean restaurateurs and hoteliers should close their businesses. Most safety violations are minor and easy to correct by following a food health and safety checklist, regular inspections, and pest prevention. Read on to understand why pest control is crucial to food safety, and the most effective ways to prevent pests.
Pest Control Prevents Infestation and Food Contamination
Rodents and insects carry bacteria and viruses that cause diseases and easily contaminate food, leading to food poisoning. Health code violations and cases of food poisoning can have a negative impact on your reputation. For this reason, pest control should be a top priority. Since pests, such as flies, roaches, ants, and rodents, thrive in dirty environments, it’s important to maintain high levels of hygiene in your restaurant or hotel to prevent infestations.
On top of keeping your premises clean, ensure you follow proper food storage practices. This includes storing food in airtight containers, labeling food packaging correctly, rotating stock regularly, and keeping food containers elevated off the floor. Keeping food in air-tight containers, for instance, prevents rats from gnawing on food and spreading disease-causing microorganisms.
Develop a Pest Control Program
Controlling pests in a restaurant entails much more than maintaining high levels of cleanliness. As per the food safety modernization act (FSMA), restaurants must have an integrated pest management program, and implement a hazard control strategy. While all hotels and restaurants are prone to pest attacks, each hotel has unique pest control needs. With this in mind, find a reputable and experienced pest control professional to customize your pest control management program. Customizing your hotel or restaurant’s pest control program helps treat common pest infestations effectively and prevents infestations in the future. Make sure your pest control management plan is in writing and enables you to follow a systemic approach to preventing pest infestation and improving food safety.
Prioritize Food Safety Inspections
Because hotels and cafes are susceptible to pests, it’s wise to perform inspections every week. Conducting regular inspections in your restaurant or hotel helps detect pests that increase food safety risks before they affect your customers’ overall well-being. Considering inspections are tedious tasks, it’s wise to hire a pest control expert to check for pests in their hiding spots. Once your pest control service provider has identified pests in your building, they will determine if trapping or targeted spraying are suitable treatments to exterminate them.
Conclusion
Running a food or lodging business can be lucrative, but you risk getting a poor reputation or even closing if pests infest your building. To protect your reputation and the well-being of customers, it’s important to know which pests attack your hotel and implement an effective pest control management program customized to your needs. Also, perform regular inspections with the help of a reputable pest control company and use the right treatment methods.
